A Bent Fork in the Road
by knowhere
Summary: Alternate Universe. Literati. Now in their early 30s, as Jess and Rory juggle careers and expectations, they find that their friendship has been the one constant in their lives.
1. Friendly Brunch

**A Bent Fork in the Road**

**Chapter 1: Friendly Brunch**

Author: knowhere

Rating: Pg-13ish/R

Disclaimer: I own none of the brand names mentioned and anything similar is by coincidence only.

**Author's Note: **I had the weird urge to read some of my old stories the other day and upon looking at the dates, I realized it's been over 4 years since anything was posted, updated, or published here. I'm sure my audience is drastically different from the readers I had when I first wrote a story on FFn back in 2003 (wow, it's been 11 years!), but I had an itch to write a new story. **For those unfamiliar with my old stories, I write in what used to be dubbed "AU or Alternative Universe" (I don't even know if it's still called that or not!) where the characters are similar but many story and background elements could be changed at the author's discretion. So to those who are new to my stories, understand that this Jess and Rory are in a sense, "my creation." So don't go expecting them to be like the ones we saw on TV.**

**For those who have read me years ago, I'm just as surprised as you to find that I still have a story to tell! :) Enjoy! And don't forget to review afterwards.**

* * *

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry I'm late!"

Jess Mariano looked up from the book he was reading and straightened up into a standing position from the wall he'd been leaning against. "No problem." He ducked down to briefly kiss his best friend's cheek. "How are you?"

Rory Gilmore, flustered and wind-blown, answered brightly, "Great! How about you?" With great excitement and little thought, she wrapped her arms around Jess for a tight hug. "Oh man! I've missed you soooo much!"

Jess chuckled at the enthusiasm he was used to receiving after having been this girl's friend for the last fourteen years, since he had first moved to Stars Hallow when he was sixteen. "Missed ya too babe." He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and steered her onto the busy walking traffic of Washington DC. "You do realize that we got together for brunch two weeks ago, right?"

"Exactly! That's entirely too long." Rory companionably slipped her arm around his waist. She peered down and said, "Gimme."

Jess rolled his eyes but relinquished the leash without comment. Rory loved dogs, his in particular, and since she couldn't afford to keep one in her tiny studio apartment, his dog became her surrogate pet. Jess watched as Rory leaned down to pet Archie's big brown head and baby talk to him about how much she missed him as well. "So what's new Buttercup?"

Rory straightened and continue to walk at a fast clip now with Archie walking at her side. "Not much. Work as usual. Hey, I have a staff party to go to next Friday. Wanna be my date?"

He groaned. "How many of those do I have to go to? You know your coworkers actually think I'm your boyfriend."

"I know," Rory giggled. "They totally think I make up the fact that I have a boyfriend who's not you."

"I'm sure he'd love that," Jess smirked.

"Come on, please?" Rory turned and flashed her baby blues at him. "He's busy and you're my best alternative."

"Gee thanks," Jess replied dryly as they waited for the oncoming traffic to pass before crossing the intersection.

Now it was Rory's turn to roll her eyes. "Don't even pretend like you're insulted."

"You're right, I'm not." They turned the corner and Jess spied their usual brunch place at the end of the street. "Hey, the patio is pretty empty. Doesn't look like we'll have to wait for a table."

"Oh good, I'm starving."

"When are you not?" Jess looked down at the slight woman beneath his arm. Over the years he watched her eat amounts that would put any teenaged boy to shame. Even when they hit their mid-twenties she still shoveled in food like she had a tapeworm. Lucky for her she didn't have to do much more than some hot yoga to work off her calories. He, on the other hand, ran three miles four times a week and swam at his gym on alternate days just so he could fit into the same jeans he had when he was twenty-one.

They paused at the hostess station at the front of the restaurant. "Two please," Jess smiled at the young girl. "Outside." He gestured down to the large dog sitting quietly at their feet.

"Follow me." The girl led them to a table near the fenced in section of the patio and handed them their menus as they sat down. Jess looped Archie's leash into the railing of the fence and absentmindedly scratched his dog's ears as he perused his brunch choices.

"I wanna be sweet today." Rory suddenly announced from behind her menu.

Jess nodded. "That makes me savory."

"And my choice will be…famous pancakes!"

"Okay," Jess skimmed through his selection. "Mine will be the vegetarian omelet."

"Oh god you're kidding!" Rory looked over her menu in horror. "Seriously? I don't want to eat half of that."

Jess chuckled. "Fine. Crab and asparagus omelet."

"Much better."

"Mimosas? Bloody Mary? Are we drinking today or not?"

She raised her brow in question. "Duh. It is brunch after all."

"My mistake." Jess gestured to the approaching waitress.

"Hi, my name is Gabby. What can I get for you?"

"We're going to have the famous pancakes and the crab and asparagus omelet. A Bloody Mary, a mimosa for her, and a dish of water for Archie here." Archie perked up at hearing his name and laid his head on Jess's thigh.

"Got it," the waitress picked up the menus and left to put in their order.

"Okay, so stop avoiding it," Rory said. "Can you come with me to the party or not?"

Jess smiled. "When have I ever left you in a lurch?"

Rory's eyes widened. "Uh, junior year, I needed a date to a certain infamous Emily Gilmore event and you were an hour late because…" She tapped her chin in mockery. "What was the reason again? Oh yes, you were making out with my roommate."

Jess made a face in fake annoyance. "Oh god. You tell that story every single time. First of all, I was twenty-one, she was hot, and you never left the room long enough for me to make a move." He laughed. "You were such a prude."

Her mouth dropped open. "A prude?!"

"Yes," he smirked. "Total prude. Remember how you asked me what third base was?"

Rory threw her napkin at him. "I was sixteen!" She couldn't help but laugh. "And a lot of help you were, telling me third base was _kissing with tongue_." She mocked his deeper voice. "Poor Dave Johnson. He was totally thinking I was ready to do a lot more."

Jess laughed with her. "It was a joke. How was I to know you'd actually believe me? Besides, he was a douche and you know it."

"He really was," Rory was briefly transported back to her teenaged memories. "Left me there in Hartfod outside that movie theater." She remembered how she didn't have anyone to call to come get her other than Jess. Her mom had been away on weekend trip with Luke and Jess had been her only option. It was the night they really became friends and more than just two people who happened to live together because her mom and his uncle were married.

Rory remembered the first time she met Jess. She was the one who met him at the bus station in Stars Hollow after his parents died and Luke got custody. Rory wasn't sure what to expect, especially since some random teenaged guy was going to be living with them now. Jess had been quiet for the first couple of months, something they all expected since he was grieving, and Rory never really interacted with him until that night she needed him to come pick her up. On the way home, Jess had taken her out for burgers and they spent the rest of the weekend watching movies and realizing that they loved the same books.

They had a funny relationship, Rory realized. Sometimes they were as close as siblings, but she never really felt like Jess was her brother. He was a little under a year older than she was and they were certainly close, but it never felt like they were related. Since Jess moved in with them when he was sixteen they only lived under one roof for a brief two years before both of them moved out for college. Rory had gone to Yale and Jess was nearby at the University of New Haven. They had maintained their friendship and over the years, it developed into a deep bond.

Rory recalled how she once had a massive crush on Jess when she was a freshman in college. He was the closest "family" she had at school and they had naturally hung out and done a lot of things together. But she was always leery about coming clean about her crush since Jess technically was kind of family by marriage and she really did value his friendship.

She smiled. "Did you know I had a huge crush on you when we were younger?"

Jess tilted his head. "Is this when we were eighteen, nineteen?"

"How did you know?" Her mouth dropped open.

He smirked. "Oh you were pretty good at hiding it, but I knew."

"How could you see around your giant ego?" She rolled her eyes.

"It wasn't like that." He reached out to take her hand in his across the table. "I was flattered but you were…Rory. My best friend."

"You mean your little sister?"

Jess scrunched up his face in disgust. "That's so wrong. I've never seen you as my sister and you know it. You've never thought of me as your brother either. Besides, Luke is my uncle not my father. The relation is so distant I don't think there's even a name for it."

She giggled. "I know. Isn't that weird though? That we never thought of each other as a sibling?"

"You're too hot for me to think of as a sister," Jess said dismissively as he cleared a spot in front of him for the waitress to put down their plates.

Rory paused a beat at that comment. It wasn't uncommon to hear Jess remark teasingly about her attractiveness, just like it wasn't uncommon for her to joke about him working out and how hot he was. But it was rarely done in such a serious off-handed tone like Jess just did. "You think I'm hot?"

Jess looked up from cutting his omelet. "You know you're gorgeous. Any guy would be lucky to be with you." He felt his phone buzz. "Hey, speak of the devil." He brought his phone up to his ear. "Hey man. I'm just having brunch with our girl here." Jess nodded. "Yeah. Tomorrow? Sure. My place. Yep. Okay." He handed his phone over to Rory. "Here, he wants to talk to you."

She picked up the phone and heard a familiar voice come through the line. "Hey you."

Dean Forrester, her boyfriend for the last year spoke up. "Hey sweetie. I was just telling Jess that I was going to drive into DC tomorrow night so he and I can watch the game."

"That sounds good." Rory dug into her pancakes and swatted Jess's hand away as he reached for her mimosa. "You're going to spend the night?"

Jess spoke up. "Gross. I don't wanna hear about my two friends getting busy."

She rolled her eyes. "Stop!" She lightly slapped at Jess's hand again as he successfully pirated her drink. "That sounds fine Dean. Can't wait to see you. Okay. Bye." Rory handed Jess's phone back to him and started on her pancakes. "You're buying me a refill." She pointed her fork to her now half-empty drink.

"How about I refill it at my place? I've got a whole bottle of unopened champagne." Jess replied invitingly.

"Deal." Rory swallowed another bit of pancake and noticed that she was halfway done and held up her plate to Jess. "Okay, switch. I want to try that omelet."

* * *

Jess waited outside the restaurant with Archie as Rory went to use the restroom. A few minutes later, he watched as she emerged from the door. As she fiddled with the scarf she was trying to tie around her neck, he took the time to really examine the woman in front of him. Who would've guessed that his best friend would be a woman? Let alone a very attractive one that he'd never made a move on. Sure, he'd been aware that there were once feelings between them, and even though she didn't know it, Jess had equally been as infatuated with her at that time. But he had been telling her the truth earlier when he said he had been afraid of screwing up their friendship.

It was an interesting relationship. Jess was always aware that he was physically attracted to Rory; how could he not be? He wasn't dead after all. And even though they were platonic friends, after all those years, his physical attraction never seemed to fully go away. He just never acted on it. It hadn't always been easy to not act on it however. A few years into the friendship and they had naturally developed a sense of closeness that Rory, being a friendly very touchy-feely kind of person, often would act upon. It wasn't uncommon for her to snuggle up to him when they would watch a movie on his laptop in his dorm or loop her arm around his as they walked down the street.

Maybe since he was so used to it, Jess didn't notice it much anymore. Even though Rory started dating his close friend, Dean, a year ago. Jess silently admitted that he seemed like a weird transition but he was happy for his friends. Rory seemed happy and Jess knew Dean always harbored a not-so secret crush on Rory. And anyways, even though Jess was attracted to Rory on some basic level, it never meant he wanted to date her. She was his friend, that's all.

"Ready?" Jess asked Rory.

She nodded. "Yep." She shivered. "It got cold suddenly!" Rory huddled into her down jacket.

Jess wrapped his arm around her shoulder and steered her into the direction of his townhouse with Archie happily trotting next to them.

* * *

Jess opened the door to his home and unclipped Archie's leash. Hanging it up he noticed the stack of books by the door he needed to sign.

"What's all this?" Rory gestured to the books piled up.

"Books I need to autograph and ship out to readers."

Rory picked on up and leafed through it. "I love the cover they designed for you this time. A lot better than the last one."

Jess nodded and walked past her and into his bedroom. "I know. The color scheme is a lot better too." Quickly pulling his sweater over his head, he reached into his dresser to swap it out for a more comfortable t-shirt. He kept his place pretty warm and always preferred to be in short sleeves.

Rory walked into his bedroom without announcement and flopped onto the bed with a sigh. "Me so tired." She toed off her shoes and started to worm her way beneath the covers of the unmade bed.

Jess watched in amusement. "Any excuse to get into my bed, huh?"

She burrowed in until only her face remained uncovered. "I can't help that you have such a comfy bed. And I love your pillows!" Rory turned her face to peer up at him. "Can I sleep here?"

"What's Dean gonna say?"

Rory giggled. "He's used to us." She sat up and removed her coat and laid back down again. "Oh my gosh, Jess, we're totally Dawson and Joey!"

Jess rolled his eyes and left the bedroom, remarking as he exited, "I'm not even going to pretend I know that that means."

"You watched the whole series with me on DVD and you know it!" Rory shouted to his retreating back. She heard the clicking of nails on hardwood and whistled for Archie to join her in bed. "Hiya handsome" She mushed Archie's loveable face between her hands and laughed as he licked her face. She leaned back into the bed and just enjoyed the quiet stillness of Jess's townhouse. He was so lucky he got this place. But being a best selling author did open doors. Expensive townhouse doors.

Jess wrote political thrillers while she worked on the real Capitol Hill. She reported on actual news and Jess twisted the news into fiction for novels. Rory turned her head and smelled the familiar cologne of Jess on the pillows when the sound of him kicking the bedroom door closed caught her attention.

"Alright, mimosas just like I promised." Jess handed her a champagne flute filled to the brim and set his on the nightstand. He removed his shoes and climbed into bed next to her. "Weren't we supposed to go grocery shopping after brunch?" He pointed the remote to the flat screen hanging on the wall facing the big king-sized bed.

"After drinks. And probably after a nap," Rory giggled. They were both aware that since she was such a lightweight when it came to alcohol, she'd require a nap after a few drinks. She sipped at her drink and leaned against the pillows. "Let's watch Millionaire Matchmaker."

"Let's not." Jess flipped through the movie channels and settled on Inception instead. It had already started half an hour ago but they'd seen it enough times to know exactly what was going on.

Rory spoke up even though her eyes were glued to Joseph Gordon-Levitt. "Mom wants to know when we're going home for Thanksgiving."

Jess looked up from the paperback he was reading and Rory noticed he had slipped on his reading glasses. "I'm planning on flying in on Monday and leaving Sunday. How much time can you get off work?"

She thought about her schedule and reached into her jacket pocket for her phone and scrolled through her calendar events. "I'd probably leave here on Wednesday after work and I can stay through the weekend. Maybe we can fly back on the same plane?"

He nodded. "Sure. I look up flights later tonight."

Rory sipped at her drink again and just enjoyed the movie as she heard Jess quietly turn pages next to her.

* * *

Rory woke to find that the sun was now shining brightly through the open windows. She glanced over at the bedside table and noticed that it was now noon. She'd napped for over an hour. The bedroom was quiet save for the jingle of dog tags as Archie moved his head on her hip. "Where's your owner?" She asked the brown dog.

Archie jumped off the bed and headed towards the bathroom door where he plopped down and barked once. Jess emerged from the open door wearing just jeans and a crisp white towel slung around his neck. "Oh hey, you're awake."

Rory didn't know if it was the lingering effects of the alcohol or the nap, but she was entirely too fascinated with the bead of water sliding down Jess's chest. She caught sight of the tattoo on his inner bicep and shook her head at her wandering thoughts. It had been too long since she'd seen Dean. With him living and working in Virginia, they usually went at least the weekdays without seeing one another. He usually drove into DC on the weekends to spend with her.

"You're coming with me to get groceries. I told Dean I'd make pulled pork for tomorrow and that needs to go into the slow cooker overnight."

Rory swung her legs over the bed and ran her fingers beneath her eyes to swipe at any mascara that might have ran during her nap. "Ugh, my hair looks insane." She caught sight of her tangled bird's nest in his mirrored closet doors.

Jess chuckled and pulled on a clean shirt and jacket. "You look fine."

She gathered her hair up into a high ponytail and poked around one-handed in the nightstand until she found the hair tie she had thrown in there a few weeks back. She wound her hair around into a messy bun and smoothed her baby fine hair back so it was more presentable. She laughed and pulled out a shiny foil package and turned to Jess. "Well what do we have here?" She waved it around.

Jess shook his head in exasperation. "A condom, Rory. If you have to ask I fear for your near future. Didn't Lorelai ever talk to you about birth control?"

Rory shook her head. "You're such a guy." She tossed it back into the nightstand. "Oh my gosh!" She pulled out a whole box. "Geez. Ambitious aren't we?"

"What are you doing in my nightstand anyways? I never go poking around yours even though that's where everyone knows that's where girls keep their battery operated toys." Rory blushed so furiously that Jess was immediately intrigued. "I'm _so_ right, aren't I?"

"No!"

"The real question is whether or not Dean knows about it…" Jess trailed off knowing he was embarrassing the crap out of Rory.

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

Jess laughed as walked into the dining area and grabbed his wallet and keys out of the bowl he kept by the front door. "That's a definite no."

Rory appeared in the doorway, flustered. "I'm so not having this conversation with you!" She pointed an accusing finger at him.

"You're the one who brought it up." Jess smirked at the obvious double entendre.

"You're disgusting." She wrapped her scarf around her neck.

"Why are you so embarrassed? It's a natural thing. Plus it's such a turn on to guys to know when a woman has…_friends_ in their nightstand." Jess chuckled.

"Wait, really?" Rory asked innocently.

"God, Rory, you're so naïve that sometimes I worry for you." Jess laughed. He closed the door behind them and locked it. He continued to rib and tease her good-naturedly as they walked the short distance to the nearby Whole Foods. Jess inhaled the crisp fresh air and new that there was nothing in his life he would change; he was happy where he was and as he watched Rory chatter away about some work incident the other day, he knew he was equally happy with the close friendship they shared.

* * *

**Author's Note: Totally different, right? When I was writing, their drastically different story lines just popped out! :) Those who know my writing know I love writing Alternate Universe story lines. I like getting to create my own version of Jess and Rory with each new story. Plus I like the idea of a slightly less surly Jess and one who is actually friends with Dean (something I always wanted to try to write but never knew how to).**

**Let me know how you liked it!**


	2. Leave Things Be

**A Bent Fork in the Road**

**Chapter 2: Leave Things Be**

Author: knowhere

Rating: Pg-13ish/R

Disclaimer: I own none of the brand names mentioned and anything similar is by coincidence only.

**Author's Note: For those who took the extra time to review the first chapter—thank you so much! It's been years since I last wrote a story here so it's great to have positive feedback!**

* * *

"So how are things going? It's been like three weeks since I last saw you." Jess leaned back into his sofa and tipped the bottle of beer.

"Yeah. Things have just been crazy at work."

Back when they were teenagers, Jess had met Dean at school. They had been paired up for an English assignment and Jess had totally thought Dean was an idiot. It wasn't until a couple months later when Jess bought his car that he and Dean actually got to know one another. Jess desperately needed help fixing it and Jess was unfamiliar with mechanical work and he was low on funds. Dean had been working at the repair shop at the time and had offered to work for a reduced price on the weekends, showing Jess how to do some of the work himself. Over time, Jess realized that he had misjudged Dean. Dean had other interests and strengths and Jess respected that. They hung out quite a bit working on the car, and by extension, Dean had been introduced to Rory when she would come by to see what Jess was up to. When Rory and Jess had left for college, Dean stayed behind at the community college in Hartford. Jess and Dean kept in touch, seeing each other occasionally when Jess would visit Luke.

Jess watched as Dean took a bite of the pulled pork sandwich. "Your boss still giving you a hard time?"

Dean shrugged. "We just got his major new client so the firm is working overtime getting the project presentable."

"How did the merger go? You guys end up acquiring that small company you were telling me about?" Jess scooped up some guac onto his chip.

"Yeah." Dean wiped his mouth with a napkin. "There's five new people in my division. I'm showing this new girl the ropes. She's from Florida, young; I think this is her first real engineering job."

Jess got up and headed into the kitchen. "You want another beer?"

"Yeah, thanks." Dean continued, "So basically most of my time is spent showing her how to do things. It's kinda cool, I get to supervise mostly."

Jess handed him a cold bottle. "She cute?"

"Very." Dean smiled. "But don't tell Rory."

Jess scoffed. "Yeah right. Maybe if the price is right." He raised his brow at his friend.

"You're such a manipulator," Dean replied with no real heat. He was well aware that his girlfriend and friend shared an uncommon bond. Back when they were younger, Dean always knew in the totem poll of friendship, Rory and Jess were at the top and he was a close second. But Dean didn't mind. Jess and Rory were still his two closest friends and he was never jealous.

They both turned at the sound of the knock and Archie bounded up towards the door with his tail wagging. Jess patted the pup's flank as he peered into the peephole. "Hey," he opened it to reveal a bundled up Rory with her usual flushed cheeks and flyaway hair.

"Smells delish." Rory reached up to give Jess a quick hug and knelt down to kiss Archie's furry head. "Hi hon." She leaned down to kiss Dean briefly and quickly commandeered Jess's vacant seat on the couch as well as his freshly opened beer. "I've been looking forward to this pulled pork all day. I had to skip lunch."

Dean put his arm around her shoulders. "Everything okay?"

Rory smiled brightly. "Yep. Work was great. Hectic but great. I'm just ready to relax."

They settled into their natural rhythms as friends, eating, chatting easily about recent events in their lives with Rory occasionally stealing food from the guy's plates. A couple hours later, with the TV turned to a random movie, Rory had nodded off with her head against Dean's shoulder.

"I better get her to bed," Dean slowly eased her head away and started to stand to clear the dishes.

Jess waved him away. "Hey, don't bother. I'll clean up."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, you guys go."

Dean gently shook her awake. "Rory, time to go."

"Mmmrph." She woke slowly, blinking in the low lighting. "What time is it?"

Jess checked his watch. "Almost eleven." He went into the kitchen with an armful of dishes.

Rory sleepily came over to say goodbye. "Okay. I'll see you later."

Jess quickly kissed her cheek. "Yep."

Dean waved from the doorway. "Thanks for dinner man. I'll call you later." Dean helped Rory slip on her jacket and ushered her into the cold night. "I'm parked just around the corner."

She slipped her hand into his. "I'm glad you're here," she smiled. "It's been a while since you've visited."

"Yeah, I'm sorry. Work's just been crazy."

Rory nodded sympathetically. She never had expected to end up dating Dean, he was after all, a friend from home. But almost a year ago, over quite a few drinks, Dean had admitted having feelings for her. Rory had been flattered but didn't think too much about it until he drove up to the city one night and impulsively asked her out on a date. After a few dates Rory realized there wasn't any good reason why she shouldn't date Dean. Their relationship was steady and comfortable. Not too flashy or unpredictable. If she were being honest, Rory wasn't sure if Dean was the great love of her life, but she liked having the companionship and Dean was overall a nice guy.

"Hey, I forgot to ask, were you able to get time off to go home for Thanksgiving?"

Dean shook his head. "I asked, but don't count on it." He looked down from his considerable height. "I know, I'm sorry. But I don't think I'll make it."

"Aw, that's a bummer. Well, I'll tell Mom and Luke you said hi."

"Come on, let's go back to your place and enjoy our time together." Dean smiled.

* * *

Jess was furiously typing away at his laptop having gotten a major brainstorm last night. A quick glance over at the clock revealed that he'd been working for almost eight hours straight. Whenever he got a good idea for his books, he lost track of time. He felt a nudge against his knee and saw that Archie was looking up with his big brown eyes and his leash in his mouth.

"Hey buddy. You're probably dying to go out, aren't you?" Jess closed his laptop and clipped on the leash to Archie's collar. Shrugging on his jacket, Jess grabbed his keys and opened to door to find Rory with her hand raised, about to knock.

"Oh! Hi!" She smiled brightly. "I called a bunch of times. Texted too. You didn't answer."

Jess winced. "I must've forgotten to turn on my phone. I've been writing like mad since last night."

"Yay! I can't wait to read it." Rory was one of the few people, other than his editor, that Jess allowed to read his unpublished works in progress.

"What are you doing here?"

"Just wanted to check up on you." She smiled.

Narrowing his eyes, Jess examined her closer. "And your fridge is empty and you wanted to mooch dinner off of me, didn't you?"

"You're so cynical. Can't I come see my best friend without an ulterior motive?"

He scoffed. "Stop pretending."

She laughed. "Okay, yes. I didn't want to go grocery shopping and then end up eating cold cereal because I can't cook any of the groceries I buy. Plus your place is so much closer to work and I'm tired and hungry and cold…" she trailed off.

Jess shook his head. "I'm such a sucker. Come on," he ushered her around the corner to the little patch of grass that Archie liked. "Give me a few minutes and we'll order Chinese."

Ten empty cartons of food later, Jess and Rory stretched out on the couch with the TV droning quietly in the background.

"So…I have a question," Rory broke the silence.

Jess looked up from the typing he was doing on his computer resting on his lap. "Hmm?"

"Is it weird that I've dated Dean for almost a year now and he hasn't said 'I love you'?"

Jess scowled. "I feel like this isn't a conversation I should be privy to."

Rory sighed, "Come on. Hear me out. You're friends with him—"

"So are you," Jess interrupted.

"Seriously, do you guys talk about me?"

"Rory, do you want him to say I love you?" Jess raised his brow. While Jess was happy for his friends, he was also pretty sure that Rory wasn't totally head over heels for Dean. And if Jess were being even more honest about things, he had a sneaking suspicion that Dean wasn't totally smitten for Rory either. When they got together a while back, Jess suspected Rory liked having someone to call her boyfriend and to be with, while Dean was seduced by the idea of finally dating his high school crush.

"Honest?" Rory asked in a small voice.

Jess closed his laptop and put it down on the coffee table. He turned to Rory and eyed her with concern. "Yeah, honest," he pulled her feet to rest across his lap and turned her body to him.

Rory sighed. "I dunno. I mean…I'm 30 now! Shouldn't I start settling down?"

"That's the only reason?" Jess asked curiously. "Because you're 30?" He cautiously left out the fact that she didn't say she loved Dean.

"I am getting older. And people my age are already married with kids!"

"I'm not married with kids."

She raised a brow. "You don't count."

"Gee thanks." Jess wanted a family someday. But he was in no rush and for a guy who could honestly say he's never been in (real) love before, he was certain that the whole getting married and having kids thing was in his distant future.

"You know what I mean." Rory sighed heavily. "I don't know what I'm saying. Maybe I'm getting my period or something."

Jess scrunched up his face. "Gross. Now that is definitely something I don't need to know about."

"Oh puh-lease…like you didn't show up with a random 'extra,'" she finger quoted, "Milky Way bar a few weeks ago anticipating that I would be moody."

Jess chuckled. "I'm no idiot."

She giggled but sobered again. "I like Dean. We have fun together."

Jess shrugged. "Then it sounds like it's a working relationship so far."

"Is it okay that it's not going anywhere and I'm alright with that?"

"What do I know about relationships? My longest relationship with a woman is you," Jess pointedly said. "And we've never kissed."

Rory momentarily forgot her thoughts about Dean. "I'm so insulted! We have _so_ kissed!"

Jess made a face. "Not on the cheek."

"Uh, yeah," Rory imitated his face, "not on the cheek. Are you forgetting the great drunken night of '09?"

Jess paused and then a wide grin split his face. "Ooooh right. Lots of tequila."

They were celebrating Rory getting her job in DC and it was the first time Rory had tequila shots. Two hours after they had begun their celebrations in her apartment and they were somehow playing strip poker. When Jess was down to his boxers and socks and Rory a long t-shirt and underwear, they ended up kissing for a few seconds.

He waved a dismissive hand. "We barely even remember it. I can't even recall what you felt like. So it doesn't count."

"Well, we've still kissed before."

"Drunk kisses don't count."

Rory laughed. "Tell that to all the people getting married in Vegas."

Jess got up to refill his coffee. "Anyways, back to the original topic. Sounds like you're just freaking out about being in your 30s. If Dean makes you happy, then just leave things the way they are."

She mulled over his advice. "I am happy. I love this city, I love having you near, and I love my job."

Again, Jess politely refrained from saying that she never once said she loved Dean. "So sounds like life is good."

Rory nodded. "You're right. I'm being silly." A beat passed as she went over to the large wall window and cracked open one of the shutters. It was raining heavily outside. "Know what I would love even more?"

"What?" Jess called from the kitchen.

"If I didn't have to walk back home in this rain…" She trailed off.

"Are you asking to spend the night?"

"Maybe."

Jess shook his head. "Fine." It wasn't uncommon for Rory to ask to stay. He was just two blocks from her work and whenever she stayed a little too late for dinner, she often asked stayed the night. He secretly was glad since he didn't have to worry about her getting home by herself.

"Can I shower too?"

"Wow, you're just all kinds of needy today."

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that." Rory flounced out of the room and into the master bedroom with Archie following close behind.

Jess chuckled and sat down at the table with his laptop open to finish off the chapter he'd been working on earlier.

* * *

It was nearly 3 AM when Jess stopped typing. Cracking his neck, he finally realized that the apartment was very quiet. He glanced over at the sofa and didn't exactly relish sleeping there. He usually stayed on the sofa when Rory spent the night. She never slept on the couch and always took over his bed. More than once she insisted they share but Jess usually let her have the bed all to herself. Sometimes he knew it was a little more than odd that they shared a bed but were strictly friends.

He tiptoed through his bedroom and almost reached the bathroom when he heard the rustle of bed sheets. "Jess?" Rory mumbled sleepily.

"Hey," his voiced cracked. "Sorry I woke you."

"What are you doing?"

"I'm just gonna brush my teeth and head out to the sofa."

The bedside lamp clicked on and bathed the room in a soft glow. "That's silly. It's already three o'clock. I have to be up in four hours and you'll sleep until noon since you've been up so late writing. Don't bother going back out to the living room; we'll just share tonight." Rory got up and padding softly past him and into the bathroom. She closed the door softly but he could still hear her. "Don't argue."

When he heard the toilet flush, they switched places and he quickly brushed his teeth. They approached the large king bed on either side and Jess was too tired to put up a fight. He was actually glad Rory had woken because he really wasn't looking forward to spending the night on his small loveseat. He swiftly tugged his shirt overhead with one hand and unbuckled his watch. He stripped off his jeans and climbed into bed in his boxer briefs.

He turned to his side, away from Rory who was now snuggled back under the covers. "Night."

He heard her yawn in response. "Uh huh."

Jess fell asleep right after he heard the jingle of metal tags and felt the bed dip slightly as Archie jumped up onto the bed and settled into the space between them.

* * *

Jess buzzed the intercom and fiddled with his suit cuff as he waited for a response. "Jess?" He could practically hear Rory rushing around finishing getting ready.

"Yeah." The buzzer sounded and he pushed open the door with ease. He surreptitiously adjusted his black tie as he rode the elevator up to her floor.

The door opened before he even raised his hand to knock revealing Rory in a knee-length black halter dress that dipped low enough down the front to hint at the gentle slope of cleavage. "I'm still not ready." She turned around quickly leaving Jess open-mouthed at the door staring at her retreating behind.

He'd always been aware that Rory was a beautiful woman; not so much conventionally beautiful but she had a sensuality about her that intrigued a man. And Jess was not immune. He followed slowly into the small bedroom and saw that almost her entire closet had been emptied and apparently discarded onto her bed.

Rory turned and took in the sight of Jess in a black on black fitted suit. "Wow, you look great." Rory knew she was staring but she couldn't help it. She wouldn't have normally thought of pairing a black shirt with a black suit but for some reason it suited Jess very well. He made it look debonair without resembling like a sullen teenager draped in all goth black. She smiled; probably helped that his suit was probably designer. Who would've guessed that once Jess grew up he would discover a love of finely tailored clothing?

He adjusted his already immaculate tie. "Nah, you're the one that looks amazing," he smiled his signature lopsided smile.

She smiled softly in reply and blushed. "You don't think it's too much?"

Jess walked up to her and took the necklace she was holding from her hands and gestured for her to turn around. "Nah. I saw the invite; it's more of a gala than a regular office party." He clasped the necklace gently as she held her hair up and out of the way. From behind, he caught a glimpse of her modest curves that peeked from the deep v-neckline of her halter dress.

For a moment, he was caught up in the pale line of her delicate neck and he wanted to dip his head and kiss the curve of her shoulder. Jess looked down at saw that his hands were shaking ever so slightly. He stepped back, shook his head, and cleared his throat. _What the hell just happened?_

He smiled his usual devil-may-care-smile and held out the crook of his arm, "Ready to go?"

If Rory noticed that off moment he just experienced, she didn't mention it. Looping her arm through his, she picked up her clutch from her vanity, "Yep."

* * *

**Author's Note: Thanks for reading! Please leave feedback!**


	3. An Experiment

**A Bent Fork in the Road**

**Chapter 3: An Experiment**

Author: knowhere

Rating: Pg-13ish/R

Disclaimer: I own none of the brand names mentioned and anything similar is by coincidence only.

**Author's Note: I'm having a great time writing this story and this version of Jess and Rory...hope you're enjoying it too :)**

* * *

"Who do you have to schmooze tonight?"

Rory chuckled under her breath. "Everybody. It's Capitol Hill after all."

Jess's eyes glinted like he was predator. "Who here would best reveal something I could use for my book?"

"The ones who are drunk," she deadpanned.

Jess rubbed his hands together in childish glee. "Let the games begin."

"Rory! Hi!" A young woman in her late twenties approached them, petite with long curling blonde hair. When she reached them, she engulfed Rory in a familiar hug. "I'm so glad to see you! Someone sane and normal."

Jess companionably draped his arm around Rory's shoulder and said, "I don't know about normal but I guess she's sane enough." He smiled.

"Hi," Rory noticed her friend's gaze wandering down the length of Jess, pausing to take into account the expensive suit and the heavy gold watch peeking from the tailored cuff. "I'm Rachel."

Jess shook her hand briefly. "Jess Mariano."

Rachel smiled winningly at him. "And what do you do?"

"I write."

"Reporter?"

Jess smirked. "Fiction actually…so I guess I'm not so different from reporters."

Rachel giggled and turned to Rory. "He's cute and funny. You've got a definite winner, Rory."

"Oh, he's not my boyfriend," Rory responded naturally. It was a normal reaction since most people always assumed she was dating Jess. But for some reason, as she took in the subtle shift in Rachel's body language, Rory wished she hadn't clarified their relationship.

Jess turned his charm to Rachel. "It's sad but true. Rory's never given me a shot."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Like you ever wanted a shot."

"Hey now, you wound me. I had a thing for you when we were young and you went through your preppy phase."

"Oh please. You just had a thing for my Chilton uniform."

Jess chuckled and drew her closer to him. "Must be where I get my naughty school girl fantasy from."

"Oh boy." They looked away from each other to see Rachel had been following their little exchange with great interest. She scoffed and turned to Rory. "Not your boyfriend, my ass. You have serious chemistry." She took a step back. "And as a good friend and coworker, I'm going to step away from your delicious man."

Rory started, "No, that's not—"

"See ya!" With a quick flick of the hand, Rachel left them alone.

Rory nervously laughed, "Rachel…"

Jess joined in. "Yeah."

She swiveled her head around, looking around. "Let's go get some food. I'm starving."

* * *

Jess held his drink in one hand while the other was in his pocket as he listened to a middle-aged man discuss politics. Jess listened with half an ear, filtering out what was boring and what interesting tidbits he could use in his next novel. He turned when he felt a hand against his shoulder. "Hi Rob. Mind if I steal him away from you?"

Rory smiled her sweet little smile that got her out of more trouble then Jess could count. "No problem, Rory," Rob's wizened face crinkled as he smiled and he sauntered off to the hors d'oeuvre table.

"You're welcome," Rory said to Jess knowingly.

"What makes you think I needed rescuing?" He arched a brow sardonically.

She scoffed and looped her arm through his to steer him towards the bar. "Oh please. You had that glazed over look in your eyes. Admit it; you were plotting your book in your head. You probably didn't even hear half of what he was saying to you."

Jess chuckled and finished off his drink before setting his empty glass on the bar. "Fine. I admit it." He looked down at her. "Sorry." He angled his body so that he was half leaning with his elbow bent on the bar surface.

She mimicked his pose and leaned in so they didn't have to talk too loudly over the din of the crowd. "It's okay," she smiled softly. "I'm used to it."

Jess rolled his eyes. "Used to me being an asshole at parties?"

Rory frowned. "Don't do that."

"Do what?"

Her frown deepened and her forehead wrinkled in displeasure. "Don't put yourself down like that."

Jess smiled. She always had a knack for standing up for him, even when he didn't deserve it. He remembered how he went through a wild phase shortly after moving to Stars Hollow. He had been surly, unappreciative, and an all around pain in the ass for Luke and Lorelai and even though he wanted to stop his destructive behavior, he was just too prideful to tell them sorry. But Rory had seen through his act, even when he didn't want her to. When Luke and Lorelai were at their wits' end dealing with his shit, Rory had been the one to stand up and defend him, saying that he was a part of the family now and that they were all stuck together for better or worse. Jess was grateful the sullen phase of his life was short-lived and eventually it became a funny embarrassing reoccurring story they told at family gatherings.

Jess looked at Rory; her shoulders tight with frustration and her hands clenched tightly together. He felt his insides warm at what was clearly her affection for him. He tugged at her gently until she was a hairsbreadth from him, pressed against him from chest to thigh. "Thank you," he whispered softly into her ear.

Rory immediately softened against Jess and felt a shiver go through her at the touch of his breath against her sensitive ear. "Well…I just don't like it when you do that. You're a great person; I'm not going to go all cliché and say you're misunderstood…but it doesn't matter if you don't always like interacting with people."

She had expected him to pull back or let her go, but when he didn't, she didn't protest and stayed in his arms. She felt the bare press of his hand against her back. Rory looked up into his eyes and saw that he was already looking down at her. "I know."

Jess bent down to kiss her cheek and as he intended to pull back and put some distance between them again, but Rory suddenly moved as if to say something and their lips met instead. At the first touch of her lips on his, Jess froze, not knowing what to do. After a moment, but what felt like minutes, Jess pressed his lips firmly against Rory's, savoring the texture. He didn't know what he was doing; could barely fathom what was happening…but it was. He was kissing his best friend.

Rory froze. She hadn't meant to make contact with his lips and while they were casual about kissing hello and goodbye on the cheek, they never made contact like this. Even though her brain couldn't register what was going on, she knew enough to not stop it. She didn't want to stop. It was the most chaste kiss she'd received as an adult, and yet her she could feel goose bumps breaking out and her hands shook as she gripped the lapels of his suit jacket.

As quickly as the kiss began, it ended. Neither could pinpoint exactly who broke contact first but they were suddenly looking wide-eyed at each other. Dazed.

Rory bit her lip, still able to feel Jess's lips on hers. "We just kissed," she whispered, stating the obvious.

"Yeah." Jess could barely restrain his eyes from locking on her lips again. "We did."

She bit the inside of her cheek like a child. "Any chance we can blame it on the alcohol?"

"I've had one drink. You?"

"One very expensive glass of champagne."

He let his arms fall from her back to his sides. "I'm pretty sure if you're clear-headed enough to think to blame the alcohol, you're too sober."

She nodded. "Right."

Jess furrowed his brow. "You want to blame it on something?" He tried to sound neutral. "You're…upset?" He didn't know what else to say.

She suddenly looked a little panicked. "I don't know!" Her shoulders drew up. "I'm not sure what just happened. I mean…isn't it wrong?" Her voice sounded like a plea. But a plea for what? Jess had no idea. Was she suddenly regretting what happened because she had boyfriend? Was she asking him to forget it? Or did she want him to justify and rationalize it away?

Jess suddenly got a flash of Dean in his mind's eye; his friend. He winced. "Yes, of course. I'm sorry. You're right; it was definitely wrong of us." He shook his head and plastered on a smile. "It was an accident. Nothing more. You just turned your head at the wrong time. Lasted like half a second."

She looked like she wanted to protest but she kept her silence and nodded instead. Jess's head swiveled around. "Let's get that second drink." He waved the bartender over.

* * *

The mood between them was significantly different from the one they began the evening with. They walked quietly down the street, arm's length apart. "So, the weather has been nice lately."

It broke the tension and Rory barked out a laugh, almost doubling over. "Seriously? Weather chit-chat?"

Jess looked over and chuckled. "I couldn't think of anything else."

Rory sighed dramatically and stepped closer to him on the sidewalk. "Damn. What have we done?"

He shrugged and draped his arm across her shoulders, warming her. "Guess it was inevitable. I mean, we've been friends forever and we've never kissed?"

"Again, must I remind you of the great drunken night of '09?"

Jess smirked. "Fine. We've never soberly kissed." He pondered the situation. "It was bound to happen at some point. I mean, you're an attractive woman and I'm no slouch either."

Rory raised her eyebrow. "Do you get up in the morning and tell your reflection in the mirror how hot he is? Your ego could fill the room."

Jess playfully dared her to contradict. "What? You don't think I'm attractive?"

"This is dangerous territory," she paused. "But you know you're hot with a capital H." She sarcastically touched his sleeve with her finger and made a hissing noise. "Caliente."

"Oh geez," Jess said laughingly.

Rory laughed along and they walked in companionable silence for the next block as they each were lost in their thoughts. "So, you don't think it was weird," she broke the stillness of the night. "Like…because we've been friends for so long we were bound to be curious about what it's like to kiss?"

"Yeah, I think so. And it wasn't like we planned it or anything. It was basically an accident. Totally your fault for moving at the wrong time."

She thought for a minute. "Are we rationalizing this?"

Jess shrugged. "I dunno. All I know is that I've always wondered what it'd be like to kiss you."

"And?" She looked up at him.

He stopped walking and turned to face her fully. "It was nice."

Rory raised her brow. "Nice?" She drew out the word slowly. "Nice is fluffy pancakes served to you in bed."

"Sounds messy, actually." He paused. "Okay, fine. It was a damn good kiss. Happy?"

"Better." She started walking down the street again.

He jogged a few steps to catch up to her. "And…?"

"And what?" She teased. "Oh yeah. It was damn good for me too."

"Too short for any tongue though. Hard to really tell without tongue."

She shook her head at his immature answer. "How old are you again?"

"Thirty-one."

They continued down the street until she spoke up again. "Is this something I should tell Dean?"

Jess shrugged. "That's up to you."

"Okay, pros and cons." Rory started doing her thing and Jess knew she barely even realized he was there anymore. He was used to this side of her. "Pro, I'll be completely honest and I won't have any lingering feelings of guilt. Con, obviously he might, _probably_, will get upset and I don't want to fight over something that was a one time thing that we've both agreed was just basically an experiment."

Jess just nodded along.

"I'll have to think about this."

"I'm sure you will."

* * *

"Well, thanks for an interesting night," Jess stopped at the threshold to her door. "Can't say you don't show a guy a good time."

She chuckled. "You're welcome."

He slouched against the wall and stuck his hands into his pocket. "So I'm leaving tomorrow to go home for the week. I'll pick you up at the airport on Wednesday night when you fly in?"

"Sounds good. Do you think I need to bring anything specific for Thanksgiving dinner?"

"They didn't say anything. I just have a stuffed dinosaur I got from the Smithsonian for Ethan, but other than that I don't have anything special for them. You?"

"I got a funny hat for Luke the other day and a new Lego set for Ethan." She started to step aside. "You wanna come in?"

He straightened from his position. "Nah, I think I'll just head home. Take Archie out for one last walk."

"Are you leaving him with Jordan?"

Jordan was a friend of Jess's who wrote for the same publisher. He was second in line to usually take care of Archie if Rory wasn't available. "No. He's coming with me this time. I'll be in Stars Hollow for a whole week so it didn't seem right to leave him with Jordan, especially since it's the holidays. Jordan will probably be busy with family stuff too."

"Okay, well, goodnight." Rory stood a little awkwardly at the door. Normally they hugged or he would kiss her cheek but she wasn't so sure physical contact was what they needed right now.

Jess stepped back with a brief nod. "See ya."

* * *

Jess waited outside the airport with Archie sitting tall next to him on the bench. He unwrapped a granola bar and at the sight of Archie licking his chops, Jess offered him a small piece. "Don't get used to this, you know you're not supposed to have people food."

Archie whined but settled against Jess to watch the oncoming traffic. He let out a small but happy bark at the sight of a familiar face pulling up to the curb.

"Uncle Jess!" A delighted young voice broke the noise of the traffic.

Jess barely had time to turn before a small and sturdy body launched itself into his arms. Jess caught Ethan with a grunt. "Hey squirt." Even though he was technically Ethan's cousin, he was usually referred to as 'Uncle Jess.'

Ethan had a wide grin splitting his face, revealing adorable baby teeth. "I'm so happy you're here!" Jess felt the little arms go around his neck for a tight squeeze, almost cutting off his breathing. "Daddy said you were staying for a _whole week_!" He squeezed Jess so hard he was about to cut off circulation.

"Sure thing buddy." Five-year old Ethan Danes was a late surprise to his parents but fully adored by his entire family. His mop of light brown curly hair was always in disarray and he had a tendency to collect dirt wherever he went; on his clothes, hair, and even inside his shoes. He was bright and well liked by his peers at daycare and no one could resist his wide-toothed grin for long.

"Jess!" Luke got out and waved to them. "Hey son," he crossed the distance between them quickly and engulfed Jess into a tight hug.

Jess returned it with a few thumps on the back. "Hi Luke."

He remained in Luke's embrace but now at arm's length. "You look good, kid."

"Thanks. You too." Jess drank in the sight of the uncle who took in a teenaged kid when there was nowhere else to go. Luke had given up a lot and put in a lot of effort in giving Jess some semblance of a normal childhood after the tragedy of loosing both parents at the same time. Even though he and Luke had often bumped heads and argued, Jess eventually grew up to really respect Luke as a good man.

Luke bent down to put Archie vigorously, "Hi mutt." Archie smiled happily and licked at Luke's retreating hand. Luke was one of Archie's favorite people, mostly because he often sat behind the counter at the diner catching stray crumbs and fallen fries. Luke knew he wasn't supposed to have Archie inside the diner, but not even the gruff Luke Danes could say no to the big brown puppy eyes.

Ethan squeezing his neck again brought Jess's attention back to the small sturdy body in his arms. "I asked Mommy if you could stay in my room!"

Jess widened his eyes in playful surprise. "You did?"

"But she said I had to wait for you to decide. She said you might be too big for my bed." His feet swung against Jess's side and Jess noticed that Ethan was wearing the tiny high-tops he bought for him over the summer. "But if we camped out in the living room we would have plenty of room, right?"

Jess hugged Ethan close and breathed in the familiar smell. "Looks like we're going camping."

"Yay! We'll need marshmallows and graham crackers and chocolate and popcorn and movies and toys…"

"Come on, kiddo," Luke ushered everyone back to the car. "You can pester your Uncle Jess in the car."

Ethan continued to chatter happily about his new best friend who happened to be a girl at school and how she had long pigtails. That led him to show Jess his imitation of a pig and he dissolved into giggles when Jess snorted with him.

Jess helped buckle Ethan into his car seat and when Jess moved to sit up front with Luke, Ethan was so distraught that Jess had to relent and sit in the back with him instead. Ethan was instantly pacified and continued to chatter like a magpie as he held onto Jess's hand while the other was resting against Archie's warm fur.

Luke looked back as his nephew continued to pay rapt attention to his son and smiled. It had been a few months since the whole family was able to get together and he was looking forward to having all his kids, even the ones he didn't father, under one roof again.

* * *

**Author's Note: Again, big thanks to those who take the time to review. Those who are just reading, hope you're quietly enjoying it too.**


	4. Simply Complicated

**A Bent Fork in the Road**

**Chapter 4: Simply Complicated**

Author: knowhere

Rating: Pg-13ish/R

Disclaimer: I own none of the brand names mentioned and anything similar is by coincidence only.

**Author's Note: Lol...so I like to respond to reviews but I realized that for a couple of you, I might have accidentally responded twice. Sorry! :)**

**I think the most interesting part about writing after taking such a looong hiatus is seeing the reviews of readers who began reading my work during the time I was away. For those readers, you've always been able to see my stories all at once so reading a work in progress is new to you. It's great to have a new "generation" of readers. It's also interesting to see the evolution of my writing. Even though I'm most commonly known for Lux et Veritas, I feel that it in no way showcases my best writing simply because it was written over such a long span of time; the later chapters show greater growth. I feel that I really hit my stride when I wrote Ebb and Flow and Life: Version 2 (both of which fight the top spot for being my favorites). But a new favorite is emerging...this one(!) and I'm just as excited as you to see where it leads!**

* * *

Since Luke and Lorelai both had to work, Jess was put on official babysitting duties. Not that he minded. Jess loved hanging out with little Ethan and since he didn't live close to home anymore, Jess tried spending as much time with Ethan as possible whenever he had the opportunity. Since Ethan had been born when Jess was twenty-six, he treated Ethan more like a son than a younger brother. Jess naturally doted on Ethan but he protected him like he was his own.

Jess grabbed the newspaper from the front porch and padded bare-chested into the kitchen to pour himself a cup of coffee. Ethan lay dead asleep in the middle of the living room with Archie snuggled up against him. They had a busy previous night of Ethan eagerly showing all his new toys and books since Jess last visited and they had watched movies and played board games until it was nearly midnight. Settling into the kitchen chair with his coffee and paper, Jess relaxed as he took in the familiar sight and smell of what he considered to be his childhood home. Yes, he grew up in San Diego, but he spent his most formidable years in Stars Hollow truly discovering who he was and what it meant really appreciate family. Stars Hollow might be a little too small and quaint for his tastes, but it was home nonetheless.

A slow pattering of tiny feet was quickly followed the jingling sound of metal tags. Jess looked over to his left and saw Ethan sleepily rubbing his eyes. Without speaking, Ethan drowsily climbed up onto Jess's lap and snuggled into his chest. Jess couldn't help but smile at the easy and open trust Ethan offered him. "Where's Mommy?"

Jess set down his hot coffee and cradled the boy instead. "Your mom and dad went to work. Just you and me today, buddy. You hungry?"

Ethan shook his head and leaned heavily into Jess, his soft downy hair tickling Jess's bare chest. Ethan hugged the stuffed T-Rex Jess had brought him. "Not yet."

Jess stood up with Ethan still cuddled against him. "It's only seven thirty and you seem really tired, E. Why don't I tuck you in and you sleep for a couple more hours and when you wake up we can go see Daddy at the diner and have breakfast?"

He protested even though his lids were already drooping again. "I wanna hang out with you." He stuck the tip of the T-Rex's tail into his mouth.

Jess gently pulled the stuffed animal out and carried him to the downstairs bedroom adjacent to the kitchen. The room had once been Jess's and it delighted Ethan to no end knowing he slept in the same old bedroom of the uncle he idolized. "How about a compromise then?"

"What's that?"

"It means you want something and I want something and we try to meet halfway so we're both happy."

"'Kay."

Jess sat down on the unmade bed with Batman bed sheets and laid Ethan gently down. "You sleep and I'll stay here with you." He climbed onto the bed and sat up leaning against the headboard as Ethan pressed his face into the thigh of his pajama bottoms. Ethan almost instantly went back to sleep and Jess reached over to the nightstand to grab a Shel Silverstein book, reading and enjoying the warm weight against his leg.

* * *

Ethan walked down the street holding Jess's hand as he recounted the story about a turtle he almost caught the other day when he went fishing with his dad. "It was bigger than my hand! It was huge!"

"Sounds like a great adventure. Ever hear of a story of a guy chasing a giant whale?"

Ethan scrunched up his face. "Isn't that the one with the word I'm not allowed to say?"

Jess laughed loudly. "Yeah, E. I think that's the one. Where did you learn that?"

"Mommy called some man that name when we were in the car once." Ethan paused. "Daddy wasn't happy when I told him."

Jess chuckled. "Well, it's kinda different in the story. But I guess we should wait until you're a little older."

"Matthew at school has an older brother. He's in second grade. Why are you so much bigger than him?"

"Well, I'm older."

"Why?"

Jess scooped up Ethan onto his hip just before they reached the intersection. Crossing the street, Jess looked both ways as they approached the diner. "What do you mean, why?"

"Why are you so much older than my friend's big brother? Why is Rory so old?"

Jess looked into Ethan's eyes and pretended to be stern. "Listen carefully grasshopper. Never ever, ever tell a woman she's old."

Ethan giggled. "Rory's not a woman. She's my sister!"

"Then I'm glad she's not my sister," Jess joked.

Ethan frowned. "I don't get it."

Jess smirked. "It's okay." He let Ethan slide down from his arms as he opened the door to the diner, memories of working there after school hitting him like it was yesterday. "You see, Rory and I were already adults when you were born. Usually, little brothers and sisters come soon after the big brother and sister."

"Does that make me weird?"

Jess shook his head vehemently as he swung Ethan up onto a barstool. "No. It makes you that much more special. Don't you like it when Rory or I take you out and bring you gifts?"

Ethan nodded enthusiastically. "That's the best!"

"When you have much a much older sister and uncle, we can drive you around and buy you stuff. Isn't that better than having a brother in the second grade?"

Ethan considered the alternatives and nodded his head solemnly. He smiled brightly when he saw Luke approach with his usual order pad flipped to the next available page. "Hi Daddy! Waffles please. And milk."

"You got it." Luke scribbled the order even though he already knew what his son was going to order. "Jess?"

"Same, but with coffee."

"What are we doing today, Jess?"

"Well, I was thinking we'd drive into Hartford to the Barnes and Noble, and you can find a new book. Then maybe see a movie at the theater in the mall? Your mom wants me to help you pick out a new shirt for Thanksgiving. And then later, we're going to pick up Rory at the airport."

Ethan mulled over the proposed plans. "Where's Rory gonna sleep?"

Jess helped Ethan cut up his waffles after Luke set them down. "Probably in her room upstairs like she always does."

"Why can't she camp with us?"

Jess scooted Ethan's cup of milk closer so he could grasp it easier. "She might be kinda tired, E. She worked all day today. But you can ask her later."

Ethan shrugged. "But we never get to go camping together anymore. She could share your sleeping bag."

Jess choked on a piece of waffle. "Probably not a good idea, bud."

"Why not?" Ethan was genuinely surprised at that. "She can't fit into mine. My sleeping bag is for small kids. You're using Daddy's big sleeping bag. You and Rory could probably fit together."

Jess smirked and continued eating. "Yeah…why don't you ask Rory when you see her?"

Ethan nodded. "Okay."

* * *

Ethan was flying on a sugar high making Jess regret letting the kid talk him into allowing him to eat an entire Cinnabon on his own. Ethan tugged at Jess's hand. "I can't see anything!"

Jess crouched down and said, "Climb up."

Ethan scrambled up Jess's back and settled on his shoulders. Ethan gripped the side of Jess's head as he scanned the crowd. "There she is!" He excitedly kicked his feet, accidently knocking into Jess's chest.

"Ow, Ethan, careful!" Jess admonished from below, catching the swinging sneakers. He caught sight of Rory winding through the crowd with her small luggage behind her.

"Oops, sorry," Ethan smiled down at Jess and noisily kissed his forehead in apology.

"My favorite boy!" Rory reached up for Ethan and Jess barely had time to duck his head before Ethan practically leapt into Rory's arms.

"Rory!" Ethan hugged Rory tightly and kissed her, a loud smacking sound on her cheek. "Jess and I have been having sooo much fun! We've been to the zoo, and the movies, and the bookstore!"

"Wow, sounds like a great time. Can't wait to join you two." She smiled at Jess and hugged him briefly with one arm. "Hey," she said quietly to him.

Jess reached for her fallen luggage and smiled back. "Hey. Nice to have you home with us."

Ethan wiggled in Rory's hold. "Are you hungry Rory? Jess promised me burgers!"

"He did?" She tickled his little rounded belly. "What else did he promise you?"

"That you would camp with us in the living room!"

"Hey now," Jess spoke up, "I didn't promise you that. I said you had to ask Rory."

Rory turned. "Why wouldn't I want to camp with you guys? Sounds fun."

Jess ushered them out of the airport and into the parking lot. Reaching the car, he settled Ethan into his car seat and when he went around to open the door for Rory, he said, "Because E asked why you couldn't just share my sleeping bag." Rory blushed furiously and Jess chuckled. "_That's_ why he has to ask you first."

* * *

"So, what's new with you?"

Rory held her cup of coffee and looked over the rim at her mother. "Not much. Work. The usual."

Lorelai reached over to tuck her daughter's hair behind her ear. "You work too hard."

"But I love it, so it's not too bad."

They could hear the sounds of Luke, Jess, and Ethan in the living room playing Candy Land; the low rumbles of Luke and Jess mixed with Ethan's giggles and triumphant squeals of glee. Both women turned at a particularly loud shriek.

"Sounds like someone's winning."

"Hey! That's cheating!" Jess protested.

"Nuh uh!" Ethan responded.

"So, who's Jess dating these days?" Lorelai broke the attention Rory had been paying to the guys.

Rory shrugged. "Not sure. No one, I think."

Lorelai sipped at her cup. "Hmm, too bad. He's a good catch. Good job, has his own home, attractive."

"Hmm."

"You know, there's a new girl I hired to be the night manager at the inn. Think Jess would be open to a set up?" Lorelai watched her daughter closely and noticed that Rory's hand than tightened ever so slightly on her mug at the thought of a fix up.

Lorelai had always been a little curious as to why Jess and Rory never tried dating. It was clear from the get-go that no one treated, or thought of them as siblings. Jess hadn't come to live with them until he was sixteen so by then, the lines were clearly drawn. Not that Lorelai or Luke had ever encouraged them either way, but Lorelai had seen the deep friendship and bond her daughter had with Jess and he wasn't blind to the fact that sometimes, their chemistry was off the chart. But Lorelai didn't want to intrude too much in her daughter's life. If she wanted to date Jess, Lorelai was sure that Rory was capable of making it happen.

Jess sauntered in to refill his mug. "Your son is cheating," he said, pointing a finger at Lorelai.

She smirked. "He learned from the best of them. You cheat at Scrabble."

"You have no proof." He said, smiling. He leaned against the edge of the counter and looked at the two Gilmores. "What's going on here? Girl talk?"

"Sorta," Lorelai replied. "I was just asking Rory if you would be open to being set up on a date with this cute girl at the inn." Lorelai watched closely and saw with interest that Jess's first reaction was to glance quickly at Rory. Rory studiously avoided his gaze.

Jess quickly recovered and plastered on his usual smile. "Yeah, sure. Why not?"

"Jess!" Ethan's voice shouted from the living room. "I have Operation! You can be the nurse."

Jess chuckled. "Guess I better go scrub up." He nodded briefly to them, "Ladies."

* * *

Luke and Lorelai had gone upstairs an hour ago, leaving Jess, Rory, and Ethan in the living room amidst sleeping bags, pillows, junk food, and discarded board games. Ethan was conked out and sleeping soundly on the floor with Archie at his side. Jess and Rory sat side by side on the couch with their feet propped up on the coffee table.

"What was with Lorelai earlier tonight? The whole setting me up thing? She's never meddled in my love life before." Jess whispered to Rory so they wouldn't disturb the boy sleeping at their feet.

She shrugged. "Who knows with Mom? She gets a little nosey sometimes."

They sat silently for a few minutes, watching the TV on mute. "Did you tell Dean?"

She didn't pretend not to know what he was talking about. "No."

"And you're okay about it?"

Rory shrugged again. She'd wavered back and forth about telling Dean. She really didn't want to upset him over something that lasted five seconds and Jess had made valid points about the kiss. What if it was just a momentary lapse of judgment? And besides, it wasn't as it they were secretly going behind Dean's back. In the end, it just didn't seem worth it.

"Yeah, I think I'm okay about it."

"Look at you," Jess bumped his shoulder into hers. "Keeping secrets. Seems like working in DC has taught you a thing or two."

Her eyes crinkled as she smiled. "That's me. All around badass."

"Not sure I'd go that far."

She sighed and leaned her head on his shoulder. "Remember when life was a lot simpler? We'd watch movies on this couch, do homework on the kitchen table, eat at the diner…"

"Things eventually have to change." He moved his arm up and around her shoulders, drawing her closer to his side. "Besides, things are more interesting when they're complicated."

"I like things simple and direct. You go to school to get good grades because you want to get into a good college. Nowadays, you go to work and have all these different decisions and choices you can make that may or may not change your future."

"Simple and direct, huh?" He deliberately looked straight ahead.

"Yeah."

He took a deep breath. "Okay. How's this for simple and direct?" Jess turned to face her fully. "I can't stop thinking about that kiss."

She met his eyes and he could see a myriad of emotions pass through. "How is that _simple_?"

"Because I want to do it again."

* * *

**Author's Note: I've always loved my original characters: Ben, Simon, Gabe, Bram, even the dogs that have appeared through the years and Ethan is no different. He was a surprise; I had not planned on writing in a kid and did not originally foresee Luke and Lorelai having a son but he's a definite welcomed surprise. While I originally thought there would be an additional character in the form of a friend for Jess or Rory, I'm very happy with the way ****little Ethan has created a wonderful dynamic for this story.**

**As always, please leave a review...it makes me happy, and a happy me = faster writing ;)**


	5. Worth It

**A Bent Fork in the Road**

**Chapter 5: Worth It**

Author: knowhere

Rating: Pg-13ish/R

Disclaimer: I own none of the brand names mentioned and anything similar is by coincidence only.

**Author's Note: This is usually always my favorite and most hated chapter to write for any of my stories. I think I've come to the point where it's difficult to make it feel unique, fresh, and true to character each new time. But I love it because once I let the characters "go," I can imagine it in my head (and then write) as clearly as if it really happened on the show.**

**This chapter starts off immediately where the previous one left off...Enjoy!**

* * *

"Again—_how is that simple_?"

He cupped her cheek gently in the palm of his hand. "Look me in the eye and tell me you honestly didn't feel something beyond curiosity and that you're not attracted to me, and I'll let this go and we won't talk about it again." The intensity of his voice did not match the gentleness of his hand against her.

She made a sweeping gesture with her hands. "It's _not_ that simple! You were the one who said it was just because we've never kissed before!" Ethan murmured at the raised voices and rolled over in his sleeping bag. Rory stood and tugged Jess to his feet, dragging his arm along as she went into the kitchen.

"I made a mistake." Jess crossed his arms and stood at the table while Rory mimicked his pose by the sink. "Wouldn't be the first time." He pointed a finger at her. "And you didn't answer my question. Tell me you didn't feel something and this whole conversation is moot."

"That's not the point!" She ran her hands through her hair in frustration. "You can't just willy nilly go around kissing people."

"Not _people_, Rory," he crossed the length of the kitchen to stand right in front of her, "_us_. You and me."

"I know it's you and me. That is why we can't do this!"

"Why?" Jess held her face in his hands. "Because you're afraid of us screwing up? Because you're scared we might damage our friendship? Because you don't want to get hurt?"

Her hands fisted tightly together. "Of course I'm afraid of all those things! You're too important to me." Rory shoved hard at his chest, pushing him away. "The question is why aren't _you_ afraid of those same things?!"

For the first time since they started this train wreck of a conversation, he lost control. "I am, damn it! I am afraid of those same things."

"Then why are you pushing it?"

"Because I also think we could be amazing. And I'm more afraid of losing out on that than I am about possibly screwing up our relationship!" His mouth came down hard against hers in a bruising kiss. It was an act of frustration and pent up emotions. Jess's mouth dominated hers as his hands tangled into her hair, bringing her even closer to his kiss.

Rory wanted to protest, she really did, but she couldn't. She didn't want to. Her fingers gripped tightly at the back of his shirt and when she opened her mouth to his, she felt an immediate shift in him. The kiss instantly gentled, a softer meeting of lips and tongue and breath. She felt him lick at her, seeking, _asking_ for permission and when she granted it, he explored her as if he had all the time in the world to learn her. She sagged against him; her restless hands moving up to caress his biceps and wind around his neck. The kiss dragged on but when he finally pulled back, he leaned his forehead against hers.

"Tell me that didn't feel like it's worth the risk."

"I—I just don't know."

He stepped back. "Okay. That's fair. You decide, Rory. You hold the cards." Jess ran his hands through his already messy hair.

"I don't want to upset you. Or hurt us."

Jess nodded. He understood, he really did. "I know. But I think it's worth it. Beyond just the physical attraction which I think we've demonstrated clearly," he took in her disheveled hair, labored breathing, and swollen lips. "I think we owe it to ourselves to see if there's something worthwhile." He started to walk away but abruptly turned back. "I'm not going to beg, Rory. I've told you what I think, now it's your turn to decide. But I'm not going to try to convince you either way because whatever you decide, I want it to be just your decision."

"Okay," she whispered.

He gestured towards Ethan's room. "Why don't you sleep in his bed tonight? I'll stay with him on the couch." Without further comment, he left her alone in the kitchen, her thoughts spinning a thousand miles a minute.

* * *

Rory felt a small hand shaking her shoulder and blearily opened her eyes to find Ethan with his new stuffed dinosaur standing at the edge of the bed, still clad in his red plaid pajama bottoms. "Hey baby. What's happening?" She opened her arms to him.

Ethan climbed up onto the bed. "You didn't want to sleep with us last night?"

Rory smoothed down his mop of tangled hair. "I just needed some more space. You understand, don't you? It's not that I didn't want to hang out with you."

Ethan nodded and laid down on top of the covers. "Do you want to fly kites today?"

"Sure, that sounds great."

"Jess! She said yes!" Ethan shouted up into the air.

"I'm right here, buddy." Rory turned to see that Jess was wearing his matching pajama bottoms. Ethan had picked those out as a Christmas present last year to Jess and they were kept at the house for whenever Jess came home. She also noticed that his hair was slightly tousled without being entirely bed-head messy. It wasn't something she'd never seen before. She couldn't count the number of times she'd seen Jess fresh from his bed; they had lived under the same roof for two years after all. But this morning, it felt entirely different. She was _seeing_ Jess for the first time and it unnerved her. His chest was bare and the PJ bottoms were slung low on his lips, revealing a slight vee of his hipbones. He had a thin trail of hair that extended from his navel down that disappeared into areas she knew were best left unexamined. He held two mugs of coffee and his eyes were locked on hers.

"Why don't you go brush your teeth and get dressed, E? Rory and I will be ready in half an hour and we'll go get breakfast."

"Woot woot!" Ethan happily jumped up and scurried over to his dresser. "I'm gonna pick out what I wanna wear!"

Jess walked over to the bed and handed Rory one of the steaming mugs. "As long as it's something warm, kiddo."

Ethan, oblivious to the intensity of the room, ran around like a little tornado looking for his black hoodie. "Where is it…?" He ran out of the room. "Mommy! I can't find my black hoodie! I wanna match Uncle Jess today because we're flying kites!"

When they were alone in the room, Jess sat at the edge of the bed, sipping his coffee. "Morning."

Rory sat up but pulled the covers up to her armpits, hyper aware that she wore just a small t-shirt. "Hi."

"Sleep well?"

"Yeah. A little cramped on a twin bed, but good."

"Lucky you. I've spent the last three nights sleeping on the couch or floor and today I woke up with E halfway on my chest, his dead weight crushing me awake." Jess chuckled and took another sip of his coffee.

She smiled despite the tension she felt. They sat in silence for a few minutes, drinking their coffee and just listening to the noise coming from upstairs as Ethan ran around getting ready. Despite everything, Rory had a singular moment of clarity. She wanted Jess. Even though it scared her to death the possibility of them not working out, she wanted, even if it was just for a short time, a deeper relationship with him. She sat up taller. "Jess?"

"Hmm?" He turned. Without thinking too much, she leaned in and kissed him. She could tell she'd caught him off guard. The kiss was sweet and full of promise and ended just as quickly as it began.

Jess pulled back looking pleasantly surprised, "What's that about?"

She looked back solemnly even though her eyes reflected a lightness of heart. "You were right. It's worth the risk." She kissed him fast and hard. "_You're_ worth the risk."

"Come 'ere you." He couldn't resist any longer, he just had to feel her against him. He hugged her tightly, savoring the closeness and the scent that was so uniquely Rory.

When he released her, he got a devilish grin on his face. "Only took you one night to decide, huh? Thought you'd take a week, at least. You must really have the hots for me."

She responded with a droll look of exasperation. "Yeah, right. More like _you_ have the hots for me."

He shrugged. "Can't deny that. It was always there in the background."

Ethan burst into the room and scowled when he saw them. "Why are you still in your pjs? You're supposed to get dressed so we can fly kites!" He growled in frustration.

Jess laughed and launched up out of the bed, pretending to be chasing Ethan. He scooped up the little bundle and started tickling him. "You little monster! I'll teach you to growl at me!" With Ethan laughing uncontrollably in his arms, Jess turned to wink at Rory. "See you in fifteen minutes babe."

Rory had heard Jess call her 'babe' a number of times in playfulness but this time it felt completely different. She knew she was grinning like an idiot but she couldn't help but fall back onto the bed with her arms and legs stretched out with an ear-to-ear smile.

* * *

They both watched as Ethan ran around in circles, chasing Archie around with a ball, occasionally tossing it only to race the dog to retrieve it. They had just finished a long picnic at the park and since the wind had died down earlier, Ethan had abandoned the kite for a more exciting activity.

Anyone casually passing by and observing Jess and Rory wouldn't see that anything was different. But closer inspection would reveal that both were leaning back on their arms and Jess had his last three fingers on top of Rory's, occasionally caressing her. They couldn't keep from the occasional glances to each other and then getting embarrassed as they were caught looking. Emotions were flying high and they felt like teenagers again.

A gentle wind blew towards them, lifting Rory's hair and fascinating Jess. "I ever tell you how beautiful you are?"

She smiled softly in response. "Thank you."

"Feels good being able to flirt with you," Jess noted with a grin.

"Like you never flirted with me before?"

He shrugged. "Okay, I have. But we always knew that was mostly a joke. Or I would do it to tease or get a rise outta you. It's different now that I can do it with the intention of wanting to kiss you."

She blushed deeply and peeked over the edge of her hair. "You want to kiss me?"

"Desperately." His voice lowered to a husky whisper.

Their attention was pulled away as Ethan shouted for them to look at something he was doing. They waved and watched in silence as the young boy threw a ball for Archie.

Rory spoke up first. "We probably both agree that it's a good idea to take thing slow, right?"

Jess agreed. "Yeah. Especially since we're home until Sunday and tomorrow's Thanksgiving."

Rory sighed. "I have to tell Dean."

"Yeah."

"Is this going to really hurt him?" She turned to him and sat up straight.

Jess replied softly. "I don't think he's really in love with you," He glanced over to gauge her reaction and he was glad to see that she was relieved, not overly sad. "I'm sorry."

"No. You're right. We weren't really in love and I think we both knew it. We just didn't want to say anything to each other."

He considered the situation. "Do you want me to tell him? I did kiss you after all."

"I want to say yes," she sighed heavily. "But I think it should come from me since we're dating."

"This is gonna change the three of us. Think he'll still want to be friends?" He looked at her with sincere regret.

Rory honestly did not know. "I hope."

Ethan ran up to them, sweaty and covered in dirt. "I'm hungry."

Twisting his wrist, Jess checked his watch. "Well, we still have a little bit of time before Luke and Lorelai said to come home for Thanksgiving dinner. We could have a snack to tide you over." Rory and Jess had been asked to stay out of the house for a few hours as Thanksgiving preparations were being made. Ethan had been running around and after a couple broken dishes, they were told to not come home until two o'clock.

"Let's have candy," Ethan tried to sound nonchalant.

Jess snorted. "Uh huh. Look at me E," he peered down at Ethan, "How dumb do you think I look?"

"Well…"

Rory started to dust off Ethan as Jess clipped on Archie's leash. "Baby boy, that's not a question you're supposed to answer. It's called rhetorical."

Ethan scrunched up his eyebrows. "That's a big word."

They started walking towards the diner. "How about we share a burger three ways so that you eat just enough to not be hungry but not so much to ruin your appetite?"

Ethan nodded to Jess as he took his hand. "Can I have pickles on the side?"

"Of course."

* * *

The little bell jingled above the diner door and Jess abruptly stopped, causing Rory to stumble and run into his back. The noise brought Dean's attention around. "Hey guys!" He smiled widely. "I was just getting coffees for everyone before I came over." He walked the short distance over to them and briefly kissed Rory.

She stood still for a moment before her brain kicked into gear. "So you were able to get the time off, huh?"

"Yeah! Isn't that great? My family is really looking forward to it. They're eating a little earlier than you guys; I called Lorelai to ask, so I'll be by your house in a few hours. That okay?"

Jess reached out to give him a brief hug but barely knew what to do to seem normal. "Yeah, of course."

Dean looked down and noticed Ethan clutching Jess's hand. "Hey little buddy. How's it going?" He crouched down so he was eye level with Ethan.

Ethan ducked behind Jess's leg and quietly said, "Fine."

Jess instinctively placed his hand on top of Ethan's head. Ethan never warmed up to Dean for some reason. He was friendly enough but he would never want to sit on Dean's lap or show him his toys. The adults, including Dean, thought it was because Dean was so tall and that it must intimidate Ethan so it was an expected response. "Remember Dean, Ethan? He's our friend."

"Hi." Ethan still held onto Jess's leg.

Dean straightened and smiled at Jess and Rory. Handing over the travel tray of coffees, he said, "Well, I was going to come by to surprise you but since I already caught you here, I'm going to head home first. Then I'll be by later."

Rory nodded. "Okay."

They watched Dean go out the door and Jess breathed a heavy sigh. "Well this is going to be interesting."

"Oh great…" Rory drawled.

Ethan looked back and forth between the two adults. "I don't get it."

Jess chuckled and swung Ethan up into a booth and scooted in after him. "I'll explain it when you're 21."

Ethan still looked puzzled. "Why 21?"

"You know that drink Daddy and I like to have? The one that's dark brown and you says smells weird?"

"Yeah."

"Well I'll explain it to you over a couple of those drinks."

Ethan shrugged but dismissed it. "Grown ups are weird."

Jess and Rory shared a look fearing that the weekend would only get awkward but knowing it was something they would just have to get through together.

* * *

**Author's Note: When I had a (very) rough outline in my head about where this story would go and the pacing of it, I had not intended for things to happen so quickly. But when I was writing it, it just flowed and the thought of dragging out the inevitable just for the sake of length felt inorganic. So I went with what felt natural for these characters. After all, it's not like Jess and Rory just met…they've been a part of each other's lives for a long time so it just didn't feel natural to hold back the Lit action longer than necessary. :)**

**As always…show your appreciation! Review…and I might write even faster. haha**


	6. Unknown Depths

**A Bent Fork in the Road**

**Chapter 6: Unknown Depths**

Author: knowhere

Rating: R (The rating is Mature. This is a story written by an adult _for adults_).

Disclaimer: I own none of the brand names mentioned and anything similar is by coincidence only.

**Author's Note: In my first draft of getting Jess and Rory together, it did not end happily (at first). Rory was not on board with it; she was too worried about ruining their friendship and decided to reject Jess in order to prevent harm to their friendship. However, that scene was written back when I was writing chapter 2 at the same time. Needless to say when I got to actually writing how they actually get together…Rory was much more open. It felt better that way; the first draft was a little too emotional. It felt too much like stories I'd written before so I liked the idea of having it less dramatic.**

**Sorry it took me a while to write this. With the first 5 chapters, I had written chapters in advance before posting. But now it's caught up to me so I'm taking more time to write. But I hope it's worth it!**

* * *

"Hey…you okay?" Jess came up behind Rory who had been standing at the sink, looking out into the backyard. He wanted to wrap his arms around her, but he stayed a conservative two feet behind her.

She jerked a little bit as if she hadn't sensed him coming. "Yeah, I guess." She turned. "I mean, I have no clue what to do."

He sighed heavily. Leaning against the sink so that he was next to her, he ran his hand into his disheveled hair. "Maybe we should just tell him right away. Waiting longer will only make things worse."

"Yeah, I get that," she turned to face him, "but I don't want to ruin his Thanksgiving."

He snuck a peek over his shoulder and quickly laid his hand on top of hers, squeezing her fingers gently. "It's always going to be something that gets in the way. He's our friend, Rory. I don't feel comfortable keeping the truth from him any longer than necessary. He's not going to like it, but at least he won't feel like we were sneaking behind his back."

"Your mother!" Luke suddenly stormed in, looking haggard and causing Jess to jerk his hand away quickly. "Now she says she wants scalloped potatoes!" He turned to the two of them, not aware of anything else happening in the room. "I'm so sorry Rory, but can you go to the market and get some more potatoes?"

Rory smiled and hugged the man who was more of a father to her than her biological one. "Sure thing. How much?"

Luke shrugged. "I guess a five-pound bag would be enough." He pulled out his wallet. "Here, take some money."

She shook her head. "No it's okay."

Jess grabbed his jacket and tried to sound nonchalant. "Here, I'll go with you." He wanted some time alone with Rory and figured this would be perfect.

"Yay! I'll come too!" They turned to see Ethan plopping his bottom down in the middle of the kitchen to pull on his shoes.

Jess stifled his groan. "Great."

* * *

Ethan walked between Rory and Jess, insisting on holding each of their hands. He occasionally swung them back and forth and generally just enjoyed the time he had with them. He tugged on Rory's hand. "What does it mean when girls have a boyfriend? My teacher has a boyfriend."

Rory jolted out of her daydream. "Um…it's kinda like you're married but there's no ring."

"So it's when a girl and a boy love each other?" Ethan looked to Jess for confirmation.

Jess shrugged. "Yeah, that's a pretty good way of explaining it."

Ethan thought for a moment as they continued to walk down the street. "Does that mean you're Rory's boyfriend?"

Jess didn't know what to say. He wanted to tell him yes. Hell, he wanted to tell every single person he saw that he was now with Rory. But he knew he couldn't. "It's…not quite the same E."

"Don't you love Rory? I love Rory."

Rory couldn't help but smile at Ethan's childish innocence. Jess chuckled. "Then doesn't that mean _you're_ Rory's boyfriend?"

"I'm a kid!" Ethan giggled. "That's just silly."

"You're so silly." Rory scooped Ethan up and kissed him loud and smacking on the cheek. "I'm so lucky that you love me."

"And Jess loves you too!" Ethan smiled.

Jess chuckled and shook his head. "Yeah buddy. Of course I love her too." He glanced over at Rory, now with Ethan cuddled up on her chest with his legs dangling by her hips. Jess couldn't help it; he reached out and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling both her and Ethan closer to him. He gently kissed her temple, nuzzling briefly and savoring the contact between them.

Rory didn't resist leaning ever so slightly into Jess's arms. It was comforting to just be with him this way. For many years she loved this man who wasn't quite a brother, but closer than just a friend. Now, with much deeper feelings between them, she was happy to be able to see where it was headed.

When Ethan was distracted with a plane flying overhead, he wiggled to be let down from Rory's arms, and Jess pulled her close to him and whispered, "Can't wait to get you alone so I can kiss you again."

Rory blushed predictably but smiled back at him. "Me too."

They quickly walked to the market, go what they needed, and headed back home again. When they returned, cooking was in full swing, with Luke manning the turkey and the various kinds of potatoes. Lorelai was by the sink peeling apples for the pie. Lorelai turned at the sound of the three of them returning. "Oh hey honey! Dean called and said he'd be here for dinner."

Rory smiled weakly. "Yeah, we saw him at the diner."

Lorelai paused for a beat, noticing her daughter's change in emotions. She turned and saw Jess keeping a close eye on her daughter while he helped Ethan pull off his sweatshirt. "Hey Ethan?" The child turned to his mother. "Have you showed Jess those new movies that grandma and grandpa got you?"

"Oh yeah! They teach you all about numbers and letters!" Ethan pulled Jess out of the room before Jess had a chance to say no.

"Alright missy. Now that he's out of the way," Lorelai jerked her thumb in the direction where the boys went, "out with it."

Rory busied herself with arranging the potatoes on the table, pulling out a cutting board, and the potato peeler. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, what's going on with you and Mr. Mysterious? Don't think I haven't noticed those sneaky glances, let alone the number of times I've seen him keep an eye on you this whole time you two have been home. What's going on?" Lorelai gasped. "Oh lord, you're not pregnant are you? I mean, if you are, I'd be totally happy and supportive of you!"

Rory rolled her eyes. "Reign it in Mom. Calm down before you hyperventilate. I'm not pregnant."

Lorelai breathed a huge sigh of relief. "Thank god. Not that I wouldn't have been supportive of you."

"Yes Mom, you're the best," Rory smiled.

"So what the heck is going on if it's not a secret bun in that tiny little oven of yours?"

Rory took a deep breath. "Jess and I sorta…"

Lorelai leaned in as if she was literally hanging on every word. "…slept together?"

"Oh god no! No!" Rory jerked in surprise. "We just kissed! Why would you say that?"

Lorelai raised a brow at her daughter's protest. "Well it was just the logical conclusion."

"Mom!" Rory blushed furiously. "Keep your voice down!" She looked around to make sure their conversation was still private. "We just kissed. I mean," Rory began to busy herself with scrubbing the potatoes. "Of course I want to sleep with him. He's very attractive and when we kiss the chemistry is explosive and—" Rory saw Lorelai's grimace and decided to stop with the ranting. "Sorry."

Her mom smiled softly. "It's great. I'm happy for you two. I haven't seen you this excited and nervous about a guy since…well, since _ever_." Lorelai picked up a cleaned potato and started cutting it in the mandolin slicer. "Why are you two keeping it secret? How long has it been going on?"

"Officially?" Rory looked at her mom. "A couple of days…ish."

"Oh wow. Brand spanking new."

"I know. We sorta had a moment in DC before he came home so we were kind of left in limbo. But then something else sorta happened the other day, and here we are now."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Okay daughter. When we have the proper time to discuss this over a pitcher of margaritas, you're going to have to fill in all the details."

"Later. But yes, I promise."

"How do you feel about all of this?"

A noise broke their hushed conversation and both women turned to see Jess headed for the fridge. "Ethan's thirsty for some milk." He paused as he took in how Rory and Lorelai were staring at him. "What's going on?"

"Mom knows." Rory said hesitantly, not knowing exactly how "secret" they were supposed to keep their relationship.

Jess smirked. "Took you longer than I thought."

"Hey! I can keep a secret from my mom. I keep our great drunken make-out night a secret from her."

Lorelai turned to Rory with wide eyes, "Whaaat?"

Jess looked away and muttered, "Until now." Jess leaned a hip against the table and looked at Lorelai in the eye. "So? What's the verdict from the great and powerful Oz?"

Lorelai laughed. "Are you saying that I'm great and powerful or I'm just some wimpy guy behind the curtain?"

Jess chuckled. "I'm asking about how you feel about me being with your daughter."

"If you guys end up getting married, you'll be my nephew and my son in law."

"I'm gonna take that as a 'yes, you're on board.'"

Lorelai randomly squealed, "Of course I'm on board!" She bounced around and encompassed the two of them in a big bear hug. "I'm so happy about this! But Jess," she pulled back, "if you hurt my daughter, I will gut you alive."

Jess smiled softly. "I expect no less."

"Good. Well then, I'm so happy that you guys are happy."

He looked to Rory and for a moment, even though they were still hugging Lorelai, it was like they were alone in their own world. "I'm very happy." His voice was low and serious, but his eyes fired at restrained passion. He didn't resist; he bent his head and quickly stole a kiss.

"What is going on?" All three turned to see Luke with Ethan attached to his leg like a little monkey.

Lorelai untangled herself with Jess and Rory and basically bounced over to her husband. "We're like the Brady Bunch but with less kids and better hair!"

"Huh?"

"Jess and Rory are together!"

Luke looked flummoxed. "Oh wow."

"What does that mean?" Ethan raced up to Jess and jumped up into his arms.

"You know that question you asked earlier about girls having boyfriends?" Ethan nodded. "Well, I guess we can say that everybody is excited that I'm Rory's boyfriend now."

"Oh." Ethan smiled. "That's cool; but you never brought me my milk. When are we having turkey dinner?" He squirmed for Jess to release him back to the floor.

"Oh god, dinner!" Lorelai exclaimed. "Dean is coming." She looked to Jess and Rory. "I'm guessing he doesn't know yet?"

Rory shook her head. "No. I haven't told him."

All four adults looked down at Ethan, who was a known sieve when it came to secrets. He looked back at everybody. "Why are you staring? It's not nice."

Luke was the first one to crouch down. "Son, you know how we talked about how you always need to be honest and tell the truth?"

"Yeah."

"And you see how we're all happy about Jess and Rory's news?"

"Yeah."

"Well, we kind of need to keep it secret and sometimes not saying something might be the best thing you can do because you might hurt somebody's feelings."

Ethan, the ever sensitive kid, started to tear up. "Whose feelings did I hurt?"

Jess quickly brought him into a hug. "No one kiddo. What your dad is trying to say is Rory has something important to tell Dean later. And we wouldn't want to ruin that by accidently telling Dean how I'm Rory's boyfriend."

Ehtan cocked his head as if he were ever so slightly confused. "Oh okay. So I just act normal? Because my normal is to not talk to Dean."

The adults chuckled. "Yes. That sounds like a good plan."

* * *

Jess rapped his knuckles three times on the door and leaned against it when Rory invited him into her room. He watched her smooth down her dress in front of her full-length mirror and took in the luxury of being able to openly admire her. "You look beautiful."

She smiled shyly. "Thank you. So do you." She stared at the way Jess's white dress shirt clung so tightly against his leanly muscled shoulders. She walked up to him and impulsively wound her arms around his neck, rising on her tiptoes to kiss him sweetly.

While the kiss started innocently enough, Jess quickly deepened it, sweeping his tongue against her lips, asking for permission to taste. Rory moaned, enjoying Jess's tightening hands on her body, bringing their lower bodies into direct contact with one another. She could feel the telltale sign of Jess's appreciation and she squirmed against him, saying silently what she was too embarrassed to speak out loud. Jess kicked the bedroom door closed and quickly walked them backwards toward the bed, tumbling them onto the sheets. Jess felt the sweetness of Rory beneath him and he had to pull back to just look at her, scarcely believing she was really there. "I can't believe this is happening."

She smiled broadly. "Me neither." She started to unbutton his dress shirt and when she reached the end, she drew the shirt off of his torso. "Damn you're hot."

Jess laughed loudly. "Thanks babe. You're not so bad yourself." He playfully leered at her but the look swiftly became real appreciation as he glided his hands up her bare legs and under her dress, daring to tease the top of her thighs.

She squirmed again. "Jess, please…" Rory didn't know what she was pleading for, only that she wanted Jess and she wanted him now.

When she hooked her leg around his thigh and squeezed, bringing the length of his arousal firmly against her core, he grunted and dropped his full weight onto her. "Fuck baby. Do that again."

She did, this time twisting her hips as she repeated the movement. "Oh god, Jess."

His head dipped to taste the curve where her neck met her shoulder, nipping slightly at her skin when he felt her grind up against him. He felt his muscles contract and then squeeze some more when her hands wandered down his back to clench at his muscled behind. He vaguely heard the pattering of feet outside the closed door and it shook him back into reality. "Baby, we better stop or I'm going to come right in my fucking pants."

She burst out laughing that ended with a gasp as his fingers came up to shape the softness of her breast. "Then you've got to stop making me so wet."

Jess laughed with her, slightly shocked at hearing such a bluntly sexual comment come out of Rory Gilmore. But then again, he did not know Rory in this context. Their relationship before was close, intimate even, but nothing to this extent and he was delighted to learn his new facet of her personality.

Their moving bodies slowly came to a stop, eyes locking even when hips were still restless against one another. Jess rose up to his elbows and framed her face in his hands. "That got outta control." He smiled. "You ever do that up here with one of your boyfriends in high school?"

She scoffed. "You're kidding, right? My bedroom is literally next to Mom and Luke's."

He raised a brow. "You're telling me you've never snuck a boy up here?"

"No." She sucked in a scandalous breath. "You snuck girls into your room?"

"Duh. I had a window that goes straight into the yard."

"Did they ever spend the night?" Jealousy started to simmer beneath the surface even though it would have been over a dozen years ago.

"No. I wouldn't risk that." He turned his critical eye to her. "You're jealous, aren't you?"

She shook her head a little too quickly and she knew he'd see through her. "No."

"Hmmm," he couldn't resist licking a path from her collarbone up to her neck. "I like you jealous." She grunted in response. "You don't think I haven't been jealous plenty of times in the past?" He looked at her. "I never really let it go far, but there were times I wanted you to fall asleep on my shoulder or hold my hand instead of Dean's. And frankly, I don't even want to think about you guys anywhere near a bed."

Rory knew the depth of her feelings was clearly reflected in her face as she peered up at Jess. "Now I'm yours. And I'll get to hold your hand and fall asleep with you. And Jess?" Rory held his hands tightly and made direct eye contact. "What we just did, that was more exciting than anything else I've experienced in bed. Not to be cruel, but it's just the honest truth."

Jess couldn't speak. The air rushed out of his lungs at the thought of his best friend being wholly and completely _his_. And as irrational as it was to say, he couldn't help but utter softly, "I love you."

She smiled widely, knowing that he meant it deeper than just beyond loving each other as friends or even family. This love hinted at greater unknown depths and feelings and she knew they were just scratching at the surface of this new relationship. "I love you too."

There was a light knocking on the door and they heard Ethan's little voice say, "Mom and Dad said I had to knock and not just come in. And to tell you that _you know who_ is here. I don't understand what any of that means but hurry because we're eating now!"

Jess levered his body up and away from Rory, bending down to pick up his discarded shirt in the process. He sighed heavily. "And so it begins."

Rory rose up to her elbows and glanced pointedly at his jeans. "Maybe you should stay up here for a few minutes and you know…think about grandma or something."

He looked down and cocked a brow. "You sure you don't want to lend me a hand?"

She giggled. "You're so bad." Rory sat up in her bed, straightening her dress and trying her best to smooth down her hair.

He sat down next to her and whispered hotly, "Yeah, well, now that I'm yours you get to see just how bad."

"No whips or chains though. This isn't 50 Shades of Grey, you know."

"Got it. So does that mean I could tie you up with let's say…my necktie? That's not a whip or a chain." He grinned devilishly. He thought surely he would outplay Rory in this battle of sexual banter.

But she surprised him again by turning around and saying, "Guess you'll have to try and find out."

He adopted a faux wounded look. "Oooh baby. Don't tease."

She walked over to the door. "See you down there in a few minutes."

His tone turned serious. "Do you know what you're going to say to him?"

Rory sighed. "No. I just figured honesty is the best policy."

"Maybe gentle honesty. He doesn't need to feel like we purposely went behind his back."

"Yeah, you're right." She was not looking forward to her conversation with Dean. "Thanks for the amazing momentary distraction though."

He grinned. "Anytime babe."

* * *

**Author's Note: As always, please take a moment to leave a review! Reviews make for a happy writer!**


	7. Everything's Okay

**A Bent Fork in the Road**

**Chapter 7: Everything's Okay**

Author: knowhere

Rating: R

Disclaimer: I own none of the brand names mentioned and anything similar is by coincidence only.

**Author's Note: I had the hardest time plotting out this chapter but after finishing chapter 6, this one easily wrote itself. I debated a lot how to handle the Dean situation. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.**

**This begins immediately after Chapter 6.**

* * *

"Hey sweetie." Dean bent down and at the last moment, Rory casually turned her head so that his lips landed on her cheek instead.

"Hey." She hugged him quickly. "How did it go with your family?"

"It went well." They turned the corner and entered the kitchen. "They were happy to see me. It's been a while since I've been home."

She smiled, knowing how nice it was to be home. "I know what you mean."

"Anyways, how have you been? I feel like we haven't spoken in a while."

Rory's smile dimmed knowing she had purposefully put distance between them. "Yeah, about that." She tucked her hand beneath his elbow and started to steer him out the back door. "Could we talk for a moment?"

Dean looked concerned but acquiesced. "Sure." He held the door open for her but right before she crossed the threshold she ducked back into the kitchen to grab two beers out of the fridge first. She needed a little liquid courage…and something to hold in her hands since her nerves where starting to take over.

They walked around to the front porch, Dean sitting in the swinging loveseat and Rory leaning against the railing. Dean took a sip of his beer and peered curiously at Rory. "What's going on Rory?"

She hesitated and started to pick at the beer label. "There's no easy way to start. So I'm just going to dive in…and be honest."

Dean chuckled humorlessly, almost to himself as if Rory weren't standing right in front of him. "We're breaking up, aren't we?"

Rory, caught off guard, didn't know what else to say but, "Yes."

Dean nodded. "Can't say I didn't see this coming."

"Really?" She took a step and ended up sitting next to him on the bench.

"Well, we had our fun. But it wasn't going to be the big love of our lives." He looked gently down at her. "For either of us."

She breathed out a sigh of relief. "I'm sorry. I didn't set out knowing we would end up like this."

"But you didn't begin imagining walking down the aisle either."

Rory couldn't deny the truth. "No."

"How long have you felt this way?"

"A couple weeks, maybe." She peeked at him over the edge of her side bangs. "You?"

"A little longer. Not much, but yeah, couple weeks probably." He looked at his feet. "What does this mean for us, though? As lame as it sounds, I still want to be your friend."

She nodded. "Me too. I'm guessing it'll be a little awkward, but maybe with time it'll get better."

"Is there a reason you picked today to bring this up?" He looked at her.

Rory winced. "Well, there's someone—"

"Oh." Dean was silent. As much as he knew it was the right thing for them to do, it still undeniably hurt to hear that she had someone else already. It was one thing to not be together anymore because they knew it wasn't meant to be, but for her to have a replacement was like a punch to the gut. "Someone from work?"

Rory opened her mouth but the sound of the door opening snapped it back shut. She saw Jess come out and knew immediately that the cat was out of the bag. Dean looked between the two of them and jumped out of his seat. "You?" He pointed to Jess. "And _her_?"

Jess stood his ground but his body clearly was conveying a non-confrontational stance. "Yes."

Dean's chest heaved and he scarcely understood why. But he couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of betrayal. These were his closest friends. Yes, he understood that they shared something he couldn't ever dream to compete with, but he always felt that it was the three of them. Together. And now to know that his best friend was stepping in to replace him was more than he could handle. "Did you sleep with her?"

"Of course not." Jess looked affronted even as Rory protested with an outraged, "Hey!"

"You kiss her?" Dean stepped forward into Jess's personal space.

Jess stood his ground and quietly said, "Yes." Before anyone knew what was happening, Dean swung his fist directly into Jess's face. Jess recoiled, touching his face in surprise. "What the fuck?" His fingers came away from his lip smeared with blood.

"Dean!" Rory rushed to Jess's side. She turned to admonish Dean further but saw that he was already leaving.

Jess sat down on the porch and placed his hands on top of Rory's that were cradling his face. "I'm okay, Ror. It's not the first time I've been punched." He tried to smile ruefully but winced at the pain.

"Oh god, you're bleeding." Rory examined the already swelling lip.

"I'm fine. Really." Jess gestured to Dean's retreating back. "Go. Go explain it to him before things get worse."

"I'm not leaving you." Rory brushed his hair out of his face.

"I'm fine. I'll be right here when you come back. Promise."

She winced. "I can't believe he punched you."

Jess shrugged. "It's a guy thing. Don't be too hard on him."

"You're bleeding and you're telling me not to be too hard on _him_?!"

He tucked a strand of stray hair behind her ear, touched that she was so concerned about him. "I'm surprised it wasn't worse. Really, baby, it's okay." He eased her onto her feet, nudging her to go. "I'll go clean up. You find him."

She gnawed on her lip, reluctant to leave him. She hugged him tightly. "I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault."

"I wish I could kiss it to make it better but I know it'll just make it hurt more."

Jess tried to smirk. "When this is all settled, I've got something else for you to kiss."

Her concern was momentarily forgotten at his cheeky statement. "Is this what my life is going to be like from now on? Lots of inappropriate comments at inopportune times?"

He snorted. "That's been your life for the last fourteen years."

"True."

"And you love it."

She patted his cheek, in all seriousness. "I love you."

He sighed. "It's definitely worth getting punched in the face just to hear you say that and know that you mean it more than you love me like a best friend."

"It's nice to say it." She looked at him with mock seriousness. "I love you like I wanna take your pants off!" She started off the porch into the direction that Dean headed. Rory paused and turned back. "Soon."

Jess waved her off with a chuckle.

* * *

He was hoping to sneak back into the house and clean up without drawing any attention to himself but when he opened the back door, he found Luke, Lorelai, and Ethan crowded around the oven, marveling at the giant golden brown bird. "Dibs on the drumstick!" Ethan swiveled around with a wide grin that quickly fell when he saw Jess. "Uncle Jess!" He screamed as if he saw a ghost and bum-rushed Jess, colliding hard into Jess's legs.

Jess knelt down and gathered Ethan up, bear hugging him tightly, and doing his best to calm the kid down. "I'm okay, buddy. Really. Don't cry."

Ethan's chest began to heave as he held on tightly, winding his little arms around Jess's neck. "You're bleeding! Daddy, he's bleeding!"

"Jess, what the hell happened?" Luke brought a clean damp washcloth and held it to Jess's lower lip.

"Rory talked to Dean and he was a little surprised."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "That's putting it mildly." She took out a bag of frozen corn niblets and held it to Jess. "Where's Rory?"

"I told her to go explain to him. She'll be back soon."

"Will she be okay?"

Jess nodded. "Dean was surprised, but he wouldn't ever hurt her."

Lorelai sighed heavily. "This will surely be a Thanksgiving story to tell in the future years."

Jess could feel Ethan's tears through the shoulder of his shirt. "Hey E, can you do me a big favor?" Ethan sniffled and nodded against him. "Could you and feed Archie a scoop of his kibble? We're going to have dinner and we don't want him to feel left out."

Ethan was obviously reluctant to leave and continued to cling to Jess. "Come with me."

"I'll make you a deal, you go and feed Archie, I'm going to go wash my face, and I'll meet you right here in ten minutes and we're going to rip into that turkey!" Jess playfully jiggled Ethan in his arms and gobbled to make him laugh.

"Okay." Ethan took off like a shot, calling out to the big brown dog.

Jess tiredly breathed out a sigh. "I'm exhausted already and we haven't even eaten." He looked to Luke and Lorelai who had become more like surrogate parents than just relatives. "We never meant to hurt him like this."

"Of course not," Lorelai said. "But sometimes it's a necessary evil. Come on, " she nudged him out of the kitchen, "clean up before Ethan goes looking for you."

* * *

Dean sat in the middle of the town on a park bench, hardly able to comprehend what just happened. He punched his best friend. _Punched!_ It wasn't like him. He felt sick. He ran his hands through his hair and hung his head. He heard footsteps approach him and he jerked up, thinking it was Jess. Instead, he saw Rory standing about three feet away, cautious and clearly upset. His throat was dry and he could barely croak out, "I'm sorry."

She nodded and sat next to him. "I'm sorry too."

"I don't know what came over me. It was like I was watching it happen outside of my body."

"Jess says it's a guy thing," Rory shrugged.

"Is he okay?"

"Split lip. But it didn't look too deep."

Dean glanced over at her. "I really am sorry."

"I know you are." She folded her hands together. "You were caught off guard."

"You're being too nice. I was a jealous asshole and we both know it."

Rory chuckled. "Okay, you might have been but you had your reasons."

"It's just…" Dean turned to her. "I love you guys. You're my friends and sometimes it's just impossible to compete with either of you. It's hard to compete with you for Jess, or with Jess for you. I know it makes me sound childish, but sometimes I wish you two weren't so abnormally close."

She grimaced, knowing there was lots of truth to his words. "I know. We're not very normal and we try to not exclude you, but I guess sometimes it just happens."

"And I know you guys try hard. But now I think I'll just be even more on the outside."

Rory sighed, not knowing what to say. She wasn't going to apologize for her relationship and friendship with Jess, but she wasn't entirely comfortable knowing that it made her friend feel left out. "Things will change and I don't know what to say to make you feel better."

"I'll just learn. We all will." Dean took her hand in his. "It's gonna be weird for a while, I guarantee that. No guy likes thinking about what an ex-girlfriend is doing with her new boyfriend, let alone be around to witness it."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Men. It's all about comparing _mine is bigger than yours_."

"Ugh, gross. I don't even want to think about that."

"Believe me, no one is keen on that!" They laughed and paused a beat, and Rory spoke up first. "Are we okay?"

Dean nodded. "Yeah. We'll be okay."

* * *

Rory cautiously opened the front door, not knowing what to expect. She turned the corner to see her mom and Luke sitting at the kitchen table, their plates heaped to the max with food. Jess was facing her, sitting with Ethan in his lap. Rory had no idea how Jess was eating with a split lip and with a kid's head directly blocking everything, but Jess was somehow getting bites here and there. Everyone stopped and looked up when Dean walked up behind her.

"Look who I brought…" Rory looked around nervously.

Dean was equally nervous, not knowing exactly how to broach the topic. Everyone surely knew what had happened since Jess's lip was already showing signs of bruising and swelling. And if he was judging by the tremendous scowl Ethan was shooting him, everyone was aware of the awkward situation. He was surprised when Lorelai was the one to get up and usher him to the table.

"Welcome Dean. Plates are over by the counter; help yourself."

"Thanks." Dean slowly loaded his plate and surreptitiously checked out the seating arrangement. There were only two seats left, one on either side of Jess.

Dean was contemplating how and where to sit when Jess spoke up. "Come on man, sit down and eat with us."

Dean breathed out a sigh of relief. He sat down and was grateful to see that conversation resumed around him, centering on the next Gilmore grandparent dinner party. As Rory and Lorelai were engaged in working out schedules, Dean leaned over to Jess and spoke softly. "Hey Jess…"

Jess stopped him. "I didn't plan for it to happen that way. It just did. We didn't want to hurt you."

Dean nodded. "I know. And I'm sor—"

"Don't worry about it. We're cool…right?"

"Yeah. We're cool."

The guys looked down to see that Ethan was still glaring murderously at Dean. Jess chuckled and squeezed Ethan in gentle reproach. "E, say Happy Thanksgiving to Dean."

Ethan pouted for a full minute before he uttered through clenched teeth, "Happy Thanksgiving."

Jess kissed the top of Ethan's head. "Try it again, this time like you mean it. You know Dean is my friend. And he's Rory's friend. So that means he's your friend too. Now be nice."

Ethan swung around and mulishly crossed his arms across his chest, turning his fury to Jess. "No! He hurt you!"

By then, Ethan had captured the attention of the rest of the table who quieted down to see what was going on. Jess looked at Ethan seriously and spoke softly but sternly. "Ethan." Ethan shrank back a little bit, not used to hearing such a firm tone from his Uncle Jess. "This is an adult thing. Now you know I don't say that to you often. But this is one of those times where I'm just going to say that it's an adult thing. You are to be nice to people around you. Do you understand?"

Ethan nodded slowly, clearly wanting the conversation to be over. "Yes."

"Good." Jess let a beat pass and gently pulled Ethan close to his chest, cuddling him for a moment. As conversation picked up around them again, Jess whispered, "I love you kiddo," softly into Ethan's ear.

Ethan nodded again and wound his arms around Jess's chest in silent apology and acceptance.

* * *

Dinner had been over hours ago and dessert plates littered the coffee table. Lorelai and Luke had gone to bed a few minutes ago, tucking in a slumbering Ethan into bed. Rory stood, figuring Dean and Jess could use a couple minutes to themselves. She quietly excused herself and headed upstairs to her childhood bedroom.

The TV was on mute in front of them, and the two guys had their feet propped up on the coffee table. "So."

"So."

Dean turned. "You and Rory."

Jess nodded. "Yep."

"How come nothing ever happened with you two before?"

Jess grimaced. "I'm not sure if this is the time for that conversation." He sighed. "And besides, I knew you always had a crush on her and it just didn't feel right."

"Did you like her back then?"

"I guess there was always a little part of me that noticed her, but not like this, no."

They sat in silence for a few minutes and suddenly Dean blurted, "I like the girl at work."

Jess was jolted out of his thoughts. "What?"

"That girl that I told you about a while back. I like her."

"Huh." Jess took a sip of his beer. "Annnd yet you punched me for kissing Rory…"

"I know. It's a little hypocritical."

"Alright. Moving on." Jess turned off the TV. "So this girl, huh?"

Dean nodded. "Yep."

"I'm guessing nothing's really happened yet?"

"Not really."

"Well, I'd like to meet her if something does happen."

Dean smiled. "Of course." He got up and helped Jess carry the dishes to the sink. "I better get going. It's late."

Jess walked him to the door. "Yeah. Thanks for coming."

Dean glanced at his friend's swollen lip. "Thanks for having me." He leaned down and gave Jess a quick hug. "I'll…see you guys around."

Jess nodded and watched Dean descend down the front stairs. "We'll call you."

Jess turned off all the downstairs lights and locked up, eyeing the narrow couch. Without much thought, he headed silently up the stairs, turning right at the top of the hall. He knocked gently at the door and opened it slightly to see Rory with her bedside lamp still on and a book propped up on her chest. "Hey."

He entered the room and shut the door behind him softly. "Hey."

"Dean leave?"

"Yeah. Everything's okay."

"Good."

Jess was suddenly nervous. "Can I sleep up here tonight?" He had shared a bed with Rory countless times, but this was brand new territory.

She smiled ever so slightly. "Sure."

He stripped quickly, hyper aware of her eyes on his body, the feeling of it both pleasing and unnerving. Naked except for his boxer briefs, he pulled the covers back and climbed in, breathing a sigh of relief. "Long day."

Rory closed her book and shut off the light. "Very long. This is one Thanksgiving to remember, that's for sure."

"You okay with everything that's happened today?"

She turned to him in the dark, her eyes slowly adjusting. She felt his foot brush up against her shin and she scooted closer to him until they were pressed from thigh to ankle. "Yeah, I think I am. Got a little exciting in the middle but it worked out." Rory brushed gentle fingers against his lip. "Does it hurt?"

"Not too bad."

"Didn't think I'd end up in bed with you tonight." She teased.

Jess breathed deeply and pulled her closer to him, tucking her face into the crook of his neck, his arms coming around to support her. "I want to make love to you so badly right now."

Rory squirmed against him. "I can tell."

"But I also want that to be a standalone event. Not an ending to a weird day."

She sighed but understood what he was saying. She didn't want any other memory to cloud that either. "How about we settle for a little making out then?"

Enough time had passed where their eyes had fully adjusted and Jess could make out the teasing smile on her otherwise seraphic features. "Deal."

* * *

**Author's Note: Reviews were underwhelming last time...make me happy! ;) Leave a nice note.**


	8. Content

**A Bent Fork in the Road**

**Chapter 8: Content**

Author: knowhere

Rating: R

Disclaimer: I own none of the brand names mentioned and anything similar is by coincidence only.

**Author's Note: So fun writing the sweetness of a new relationship. If this were a movie, you'd be watching the montage of all those clichéd happy moments. Haha.**

**Enjoy; this chapter begins right where 7 left off.**

* * *

Rory walked downstairs, passing the living room where Ethan was glued to the TV screen watching Sesame Street. "Hey baby boy."

"Hi Rory." Ethan never looked away from the screen as he continued to shovel cereal into his mouth.

Rory smiled and shook her head. She continued into the kitchen, finger combing her damp hair as she went. She saw Jess seated at the dining table and her mom at the other end. Jess had an open newspaper in front of him and Lorelai was fiddling with something on her phone. They both looked up and smiled in greeting. Rory headed over to the coffee maker and started to pour herself a cup when she felt Jess approach her from behind.

She turned and lifted the sweet brew up to her lips. "Morning." She couldn't help but smile.

Jess smirked back, his thoughts clearly drifting back to the previous night and the early morning where they had awoken with limbs entwined. Jess had driven her crazy with his wandering hands and lips just an hour ago, his sleepy kisses bringing them both awake. "Hey you." He leaned in, caging her against the counter with his arms on either side of her hips. He stole a kiss, momentarily swiping an eager tongue into her mouth, tasting for an all too brief moment.

"Ew." Lorelai quipped from the table. "Guess we're going to have to see you two all lovey dovey for a while, huh?"

Rory giggled and joined her mom at the table. "Sorry."

Jess started to walk out of the kitchen and spoke at the same time as Rory, "Not sorry."

Lorelai and Rory watched him leave. Lorelai shook her head and muttered affectionately, "He's such a punk."

Rory smiled. "I know; isn't it great?"

"So, what are you guys doing today? Oooh, wanna have a girls day? Manis and pedis?"

Rory nodded. "That sounds great."

"Yay! I'll make an appointment." Lorelai flounced out of the room, pausing to check on her son.

Rory entered the living room and sat next to Jess on the couch. Without saying anything, she curled her legs beneath her and rested her head on Jess's shoulders. Jess wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close. "What's up?"

"Mom and I are thinking of hanging out today. But I want to have some time to ourselves today. Wanna meet on the bridge later?" The bridge had been their favorite spot as teenagers, often going there to escape.

"Sounds good." He kissed her cheek and lingered for a moment, nuzzling against her. His lips found hers and he kissed her sweetly and chastely. Jess was suddenly pulled out of the moment when he felt Ethan climb into his lap.

"You guys are kissing like Mommy and Daddy."

Jess looked down at Ethan's open face. "Does that bother you?"

Ethan shrugged and innocently asked, "Why would that bother me?" Without another word, he settled into the lap and reclined against Jess's chest, hugging his stuffed dinosaur tightly as he continued to watch TV.

"And you've got your shadow to keep company," Rory teased. As soon as Ethan could recognize people, everyone knew Jess was his favorite. When he started walking, Ethan would toddle after him, always hot on Jess's heels.

"Lorelai Leigh! You better be getting dressed and not kissing Jess!" They heard Lorelai shout from upstairs.

Rory laughed and kissed Jess quickly. "That's my cue. I'll call you."

She started to get up off the couch when Jess pulled her back to kiss her again. When he was done, he turned her around and patted her rear when she walked away. "Later babe."

* * *

"Oooh, let's choose matching polish colors!" Lorelai held up a pale pink.

Rory gave her a droll look. "Really?"

Lorelai sighed. "Fine." She selected her two colors and started back to the massage chair.

Rory mulled over her options, choosing a bright red coral for her toes and a happy light green blue for her nails. She figured she would have to take it off when she went back to work in a couple of days, but while she was on vacation she was going to have some fun. She joined her mom again and bent down to roll up her pants to expose her feet. She placed them into the warm massaging jets with a sigh. "This is amazing."

Lorelai joined her with a smile. "You said it sister." She wiggled her toes and leaned back into the chair. "So dish. How the heck did you and Jess happen?"

Her daughter shook her head, almost in disbelief herself. "I have no idea. It kinda felt like it was building for a couple months or something. I mean, we would do our usual thing, you know? Spend time together and all that. But then the last couple of weeks, it just felt like everything was amplified." Rory looked over and saw that Lorelai was completely engrossed in the story. She continued. "Anyways, I didn't want to really believe that I was actually having feelings for Jess because it was crazy! But then he went with me to my staff party and we sorta accidently kissed. Afterwards, we said we would forget about it but then the other day when I got here, he said he didn't want to forget about it."

"Wow."

"I know!" Rory paused and then spoke up again, this time hesitantly. "How do I know it's not just a momentary crush on him?"

Lorelai shrugged. "Sounds like it's not. I've never heard you speak of a guy like this."

"But what if it's just all new and exciting? I've never thought I'd be with Jess. But I don't want to screw it up. You were friends with Luke first, before you guys got together. How did you know it was the right thing to do?"

"Oh honey, you're never a hundred percent sure it's the right thing to do. You just do it even though you know the risks."

Rory looked deflated. "Yeah, I guess so. I know it sounds cliché, but I just don't want to screw up our friendship."

"If it's good, your friendship will never be the same in the best way. If it's not so good…then you might not have a friendship to return to."

"Gee thanks, Mom. That really helps."

"Honey, it's the truth. You're smart enough to have already have thought of it."

Rory leaned her head back. "I know. I just wished it didn't have to be so risky."

"Oh Mini-Me, if it wasn't risky, it wouldn't be worth it. Believe me, I know. I can't imagine not having risked being with Luke. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have this amazing life and the cutest little boy ever."

Rory smiled in understanding. "Luke is pretty great."

"Free coffee for life yo!"

Her phone buzzed and Rory smiled when she saw Jess's name pop up on the screen. "Hey there."

"Damn, I just got hot hearing you say hi. I'm so fucked."

Even through the phone Rory could hear Jess's smile. "What's going on?"

"Well, Ethan's dying to go the zoo again and he said since you haven't been this weekend, we need to go today."

"Are you letting a five-year old tell you what to do?"

"Sure am." A beat passed. "So, what do you think? How long is this girliness going on?"

Rory looked to her mom, "Ethan's conned Jess into going to the zoo again and Ethan's insisting I go."

Her mom smiled, loving that her son adored his older sister and cousin. "We can be home in like half an hour."

Rory spoke into the phone. "Half hour."

"Okay." Rory heard Ethan yell in the background about grilled cheese. "I've gotta go. See you later."

* * *

"So does this mean you and Rory will get married?" Ethan swung his feet as he sat next to Jess on the front porch steps as they waited for Rory to come home.

Jess almost choked on his iced tea. "What?"

"Mommy once said that married people kiss."

Jess nodded slowly, not quite knowing what to say. "Well…unmarried people can kiss too."

"Mommy said that I can't kiss a girl until I'm married."

Jess smiled in response. "I see. Well, what about me? Do you think it's okay for me to kiss Rory even though we're not married?"

Ethan gave it some real thought. After a moment, he placed his arm on Jess's leg and leaned against him. "I guess if you love her, it's okay. But I still think you should be married."

Jess nodded and couldn't help but pull Ethan close to cuddle him for his sweet innocence. "I've got some thinking to do then."

Ethan sighed, clearly done with the conversation and now onto other things. "When's Rory coming home? I don't want to miss the monkeys. Or the rhino."

"Why don't you help pack a snack for us in case we get hungry at the zoo?"

"Okay!" Ethan bounded up and into the house. "Juice boxes and animal crackers!"

"Of course." Jess stayed on the porch, enjoying the solitude. He sat up a little straighter when he saw Lorelai's car pull around the corner. The girls stepped out and Jess went to go greet Rory on the passenger side of the car. "Hey there," he whispered softly.

Rory's face completely softened as she allowed herself to be pulled into Jess's arms. "Hi." Lorelai rolled her eyes and left the two, knowing they probably didn't even notice her presence. She could hear Ethan clanging around in the kitchen and went to go see what her baby was getting into.

"I so want to kiss you right now."

Rory could see that Jess was staring right at her mouth. "So what are you waiting for?"

He delayed for just a bare fraction more, but then descended sweetly, his lips soft and inviting against hers. He moved slowly, savoring the softness of Rory's lips on his. His arms wrapped tightly around her, bringing her body into full contact. When she gasped, he took the advantage and swept into her mouth, tasting, memorizing. His body ached and he knew he had to pull back before things got out of control in the driveway. He ended the kiss but didn't want to break contact, remaining close, hovering just above her lips. "We don't really have to go to the zoo, do we?"

Rory opened her mouth to reply but Ethan ran out of the house, shouting for them. "Slowpokes! Hurry uuuuup!" He dashed back in before they could reply.

"That answers your question," Rory giggled.

Jess sighed and leaned his forehead against hers. "I can't wait to go back to the city."

"You love it here and you know it."

Ethan reappeared in the doorway again. "Uncle Jess!"

"Not when he's cock-blocking me every single moment."

Rory laughed. "Oh shush. There'll be plenty of time for that." She pulled him by the hand and led him back into the house.

"Not soon enough."

* * *

"Say cheese!" Ethan mugged his best toothy smile as he sat on the big turtle sculpture. Rory snapped the picture on her iPhone and smiled. "That was great. Want one with Uncle Jess?"

Ethan nodded. "Yes!"

Jess rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "Alright Squirt. Do it quick." He knelt down and leaned in as Rory captured another picture. When Rory was done, Jess plucked Ethan off the turtle so the family behind them could take their turn.

A woman their age smiled at them. "Your son is really cute."

Jess smiled back. "Thanks." It wasn't unusual for people to make that mistake and after a few times, Rory and Jess just stopped bothering to explain and just accepted the compliment.

Ethan tugged at Jess's hand as they started to walk towards the lion exhibit. "If you had a son would you take him to the zoo?"

"I'd love to. Maybe one day."

"I wanna come too." Ethan appeared a little confused. "But where do you get kids? Do you pick them up at a store?"

Jess had a moment of panic at the 'where do kids come from?' line of questioning and shot Rory a pleading look. Rory stepped in, distracting Ethan by saying, "Hey look! They have cotton candy! Wouldn't it be great if we shared one?"

It worked. Ethan started jumping up and down. "Oh please Jess! Please!"

Jess was more than happy to pull out his wallet. "Blue or pink?"

Ethan looked at him like Jess had lost his marbles. "Duh."

"But Rory's favorite is pink."

Ethan looked torn and then got a gleam in his eye. "Maybe we can compro…mise and get both?"

Jess laughed loudly at how Ethan struggled to remember the word that he was taught a few days ago. "Wow. I think just remembering that word is worth a cotton candy all to yourself. Even though I know you're trying to con me." He gave Ethan a mock-stern look.

Ethan giggled but clearly happy that his little stunt worked. After handing both Ethan and Rory their spun sugar, Jess ushered them over to a bench in the sunlight. "How about we relax for a little bit?" Jess sat close to Rory, intending to sneak in a little physical contact or snuggle or something with her since they'd been so busy with Ethan ever since they got to the zoo. But once he sat down, Ethan climbed up onto his lap, awkwardly holding onto his cotton candy with one hand while the other used Jess's chest for balance as he sat down.

Rory grinned in understanding as Jess blew out a frustrated breath. She scooted close to him and took his hand in hers as consolation.

* * *

Rory's phone buzzed and she read the text message. "Mom says to meet them at the diner at 6:15."

Jess looked to the car's clock and saw they had little over an hour. He pulled up to the house and turned off the engine quietly. He peeked in the rear view mirror to see that Ethan was slumped over in his car seat, exhausted from a day of walking around the zoo. "That'll give him a little time to nap." He opened the back door nearest the sleeping boy and deftly unbuckled the car seat. When Jess lifted him, Ethan mumbled and laid his head on Jess's shoulder and went right back to sleep.

Rory helped carry their stuff back into the house, not forgetting the souvenir rhinoceros that she bought for Ethan. She walked quietly into the house, watching from the doorway as Jess laid Ethan down and helped pull off his shoes. Jess closed the bedroom door behind him and smiled softly at her. "Finally. We're alone."

She raised a playful brow. "Technically we're still babysitting."

Without warning, Jess scooped her up into his arms. She shrieked and wound her arms around his neck. "Jess! Careful!"

He chuckled and unceremoniously half-dumped her onto the couch, quickly following her down. He lay on top of her, toeing off his shoes as he pulled off her sweater. Without saying another word, he stripped off his t-shirt, rendering her senseless. Jess smirked, knowing full well the effect he was having on her. He nodded to her shirt. "Off."

She looked at him incredulously. "If you think I'm getting naked on my mother's sofa while Ethan's asleep in the next room, you've got another thing coming buddy."

"Oh, something's going to be coming, alright." He chuckled. "Or should I say, _someone_."

"Jess!" She admonished, heady with the riotous hunger he stirred in her. "Seriously, we're not having sex on this couch!"

"Fine, fine." Jess reached down to pull off her shirt. "We'll just make out."

"Topless?!"

He looked her square in the eye. "Yes." He bent down without another word and licked along the top swell of her breasts. When she gasped, he knew he had her. He molded her with his hands, shaping, testing.

"Come here you." She pulled his head up to kiss him firmly. She dominated the kiss, licking at his tongue, absorbing the taste of him.

Without meaning to, his hips thrust into hers and he swore he could feel the heat of their desire even through denim. Jess switched their positions, nearly dumping them both onto the floor in the process. Their passion was momentarily broken up by giggles until Jess leaned back on the couch and pulled Rory on top of him, sitting her firmly astride his hips. She let go of her inhibitions, conscious that this was _Jess_ and while what they did was new, it felt like they had been doing it for years, like it was meant to be. She undulated her hips and ground into him, drawing a long and low moan out of him. When he pulled her down to lay flush against him, she dug her fingers into his biceps, holding onto him as his hands roamed her back.

They pulled back a long time later, struggling to catch their breaths. The intensity of the moment was broken when Jess winked at her and then pulled Rory down to snuggle into his chest. She sighed happily, absentmindedly dragging her big toe to trace his shinbone. She wound her arms around his bare chest, feeling the crisp hair tickle her cheek. He stroked a lazy hand up and down her arm, leaving a legion of goosebumps in the wake. She lifted her head. "How much time do we have left?"

"Hmmm?" His voice was scratchy.

Rory smirked. "Dinner? Mom…Luke…diner? Ringing any bells?"

He knew she was teasing him but he didn't rise to the occasion. "Probably fifteen minutes. Enough to walk over."

She squirmed with unspent passion and surreptitiously pressed herself against his leg. He immediately got the hint and rolled her beneath him. "Want more, do you?"

When his fingers deftly unbuttoned her jeans and found her wet and willing, she couldn't help but arch her hips up to him. "Jess…" His name ended on a hiss.

He watched her face, letting her body tell him what she wanted and within minutes he had her right up to the edge of her climax. And when he leaned over to whisper what he was looking forward to doing with her, she fell over the precipice. He caught her, gentling his fingers as slight tremors took her over body. Jess held her close, nuzzling the base of her neck, tasting the salt from her sweat. "Amazing."

They stayed silent and unmoving for a few minutes. Then, with great reluctance, they got up and dressed, sneaking little amused glances at each other along the way. Jess padded silently to Ethan's room. He sat on the bed and laid a hand on Ethan's shoulder. "Hey buddy."

Ethan rolled over and struggled to sit up. "Is it morning?"

"No; time for dinner. We're meeting your mom and dad at the diner."

Ethan nodded. "Can we bring Archie?"

"Sure. Put on a sweatshirt and grab his leash."

Ethan trotted out of the room, calling out to the dog. Jess stopped when he saw Rory by the foyer, distracted by something on her phone. He pocketed his own phone and shrugged into his jacket. "Ready?"

"Yep."

"E, let's go!"

They left the house, headed towards the diner. As they walked, Ethan told them about his new favorite cartoon and Jess reached out to take Rory's hand, content as they continued to listen to Ethan ramble on.

* * *

**Author's Note:** **Oh man, I've received some lovely notes this past chapter and it's definitely made me want to open my computer to write! So, you know what to do! Review! ;)**


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